


Poker Faced Until I Perish

by VinisGone



Category: Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Explicit Language, F/M, Psychological Horror, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-19 06:03:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13698348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VinisGone/pseuds/VinisGone
Summary: Much related to SmileMcFluffins' (titaniumOvaries) "The House Always Wins", this story is very closely focused on the reader being forced into hell. Before anything else begins, I'd like to praise the very special one mentioned earlier for really inspiring me to come out and finally write again. Her stories are mesmerizing and this particular one captured me the most. Thank you, Smile, for making ME smile! (hahaha)You and your best two cup-pals were waltzing around Inkwell Isle when a treacherous discovery led you three to something more of a nightmare. Upon being stuck deep below the sunny surface, you are greeted by two individuals who have an unruly and constant quarrel with one another. But why? Though at first puzzled as to the bickering, it all becomes clear in the blink of an eye. These two were fighting over you.





	1. Greed is a Sin

**Author's Note:**

> And awaaaaaaayyyy we go! This beginning chapter is just a gentle ease into what your life is like before any truly wild occurrences happen. With your two best buddies by your side on your tame adventures, nothing else could make you happier!
> 
> Also please be kind if I accidentally throw in some first-person point of view rather than second. I've never written second before and things could get a bit wonky.

"This way!" The little Cup boy ushered you, grabbing your wrist with a firm grip and tugging more than gently. Your feet shuffled below you as you fought back against his pull. "Wait for a second, we have to wait for Mugman to tie his shoe!" You reminded the eager boy. He huffed and let your arm slip from his hold and now crossed his arms. "It's not my fault he's always so behind!" He half-pouted. Part of you believed that was just the excitement talking. The excitement due to a promise you made to the boys days ago. This particular promise you made you have decided to keep, for it was a simple promise.

You told the boys you'd take them to hotspot nearby the edge of the Inkwell Isle they resigned on. Though you didn't specify exactly what was awaiting them once they arrived, it didn't take much to rope in the boys. Cuphead specifically was very easily swayed. You've heard stories from Elder Kettle where Cuphead refused to do his chores, so the elder offered him a sweet treat as a prize. With no hesitation, Cuphead got right to cleaning up around the house and then was rewarded a delicious warm cookie for a job well done. You'd be lying if you told yourself that you didn’t sometimes take advantage of that character trait of him.

Of course, you never took so much control over it that you ended up hurting someone. It was all in good fun.

The sound of feet clomping behind you earned your gaze and you spun around to see Mugman joyfully galloping over. "Great, can we keep goin' now?" Cuphead whined. I gave him a reassuring nod and a big, goofy smile rose to his cheeks. "Then what are we waitin' for?" He rhetorically asked, once again snatching my wrist and beginning to dash in the other direction.

Mugman, just as Cuphead said earlier, was walking at a bit slower pace than us. This was due to the fact that the boy was taking in more scenery than his brother. This was something you liked to point out about their personalities. Cuphead wanted nothing more than new adventures and excitement to knock at his door every day, but Mugman just lived in the moment. The most intriguing part about this concept is that you didn't know exactly where yourself fit in on that spectrum.

The warm sun seemed to bring the trees and grass around you to life. They swayed in the wind and danced with a mind of their very own. You didn't know when, but Cuphead had finally let go of you and slowed down his pace. Perhaps the walking had drained him of most of his hopes for having an elated time. Mugman spoke up for the first time today. You didn't pinpoint him as shy and definitely not anti-social, but he did have a bit of reluctance with his words and actions. You blamed that on him having an outgoing and loud-personality having brother.

"Do you think you know when we'll get there?" He asked, catching up to pace with us and tugging on the bottom of your shirt. You smiled at him and pointed ahead of us. "You see those two fat trees?" You asked. He nodded. "Right between those trees is an oasis of fun."

"What's an oasis?" Cuphead asked, not even looking at you, for his eyes were fixed on the path ahead.

"Basically it's like a diamond in the rough. Trust me, you'll like it."

The trees came upon us quicker than you expected and the boys' expressions lit up. Seeing their smiles caused you to smile. Hidden behind the forest was a cave. You happened upon it when you were out for a Sunday evening walk and being too afraid to explore it by yourself, you decided it was the best decision to bring a few more set of gloves with you.

“What d’ya think is lurkin’ in there?” Cuphead asked us both as he waddled over to the entrance and put his glove on the cave wall. Mugman now seemed a bit reluctant, but gave a fair answer. “Probably some demon who dwells on taking little Inkwell Isle travelers.” He said, now walking over to meet Cuphead by the mouth.

“Or it could be a cave with a dragon protecting its riches, and we could totally beat it and have all the wealth we want!” I suggested. The boys exchanged looks as if they were contemplating what you said.

“Fair enough.” Mugman finally spoke.

The sunlight was fair, and few holes in the cave’s top let the light soak to the dirt floor. No need for a flashlight.

The usual grassy floor changed to cold rocks and pebbles as you three trekked deeper and deeper into the cave. Mugman was keeping closer to you than usual. Though he wasn't acting too afraid, his body actions clearly showed he was. Cuphead was taking the lead. His steps were each more triumphant than the last. When he spoke, his voice echoed throughout the cave walls. "Are we getting close to the treasure?" He asked. You sucked on your bottom lip as you answered. "I told you it was just a maybe. We don't know for sure if there's even anything at all waiting for us."

Cuphead grunted and kept his pace. "Mugman?" You turned towards the blue mug boy. He seemed unresponsive and you tried to pull him back to reality. "You okay?"

He replied with a "Oh yeah, just thinking about what's gonna be in here," which obviously meant he was a bit timid. You smiled at him reassuringly and reminded him that if they did run into trouble that he's got two buddies always ready to wallop. That seemed to calm him. You yourself took a deep breath and told yourself that this was the case for you too. Though you were sure you weren't in for any battles, you just never know for sure.

The cave seemed to never end. There were no forks, thank god, but no end. "Think we should go back now?" Cuphead asked. "Elder Kettle promised to make beans and toast for us tonight!"

You looked up at the ceiling of the cave and noticed the light was in fact fading. "Maybe you're right. We can come back tomorro-"  
"Look!"

Yours and Mugman's attention were whipped back to the red cup. "Lookie what I just found!" He chimed. Cuphead spun around and held out a shiny golden coin. The pure brightness of the currency seemed to brighten up the entire cave. Both you and Mugman's jaw dropped. "Cuphead, where did you find this?" You asked. "Right here on the floor!" He said, pointing behind him.

Mugman blinked and rubbed his eyes before a wide smile arose to his cheeks. "Do my eyes deceive me? There's another one!" He proclaimed, whipping his arm up and pointing behind Cuphead. The eager red cup turned and spotted it. He dashed over to collect it. "You gotta come see this! There's two more!" Mugman and you ran over to confirm and sure enough, more coins were laying right on the cave. "Do you know what this means?" Cuphead said, his expression filled with raw disbelief mixed with excitement. "There's gotta be more down this cave! We've gotta keep goin'! Just for a little bit longer!" Cuphead begged.

You looked at the boys' faces, then looked back to the entrance of the cave, then back to the boys. You'd be lying if you said you wanted to go back. "There's only one way to go!' You announced, pointing towards the trail of newly found coins. The boys shared a cheer before eagerly pressing on, quickly stopping to bend over and snatch a coin from the gravel. You did the same and each coin made your smile brighten.

As if God himself shone down in the living land, a pile of riches laid in front of the end of the cave. You and the boys yelled in joy and ran over. Cuphead dove headfirst into the pile of coins. You and Mugman did a silly dance together to celebrate. The pure happiness was something you felt you'd never experience for a while after this. "Cuphead! Start grabbing what you can and we'll go show Elder Kettle!" You yelled to the coin mountain. A few seconds passed and the smile on your lips became less prominent. "Cuphead?"

No response.

"He's just messin' with us. I should know." Mugman said, walking over to dig and investigate the coins. "He'll probably pop up and scare us at any second."

Mugman kept going at the coins, throwing some to the side and sometimes stuffing them in his shorts. Then, he stopped digging. He pulled away and wore a look of fear. Once you caught sight of it, you did the same.

"He's gone."

Your heart began to pound. "You're kidding, right? Where could he have possibly gone? T-There is literally nowhere else to go!"

"Except down." He said.

You quickly stumbled over to see through the hole Mugman had made. Sure enough, there was a hole in the cave floor. As dark as sin, it bore through the ground. There was no telling how deep it went. Then, you heard a voice.

"Guys! I found a secret passageway! It's not as deep as it looks!"

Mugman looked into the hole. "Cuphead?" He asked. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah! I'm fine! Just g̮͎͙̥̼͚͆ͨ̄ẹ͙̣̜̜̙ͮ̋͊̇͢t̳̦̭̦̥͉͌̾̈́̔ ͫḏŏ̵̯̬̫ͬ̋ͥ͗͑w̻͉̉̍ͮͬͧ͢n͉̝͎͚ͬ͒ͮ here!"

Mugman and I jumped back. Cuphead made a strange sound while speaking that neither of us could explain. "Cuphead? Are you sure you're alright? It sounds like you fell far and- landed on your throat." Mugman called out.

We heard laughter, then a deep, ominous growl.

"I said G̷Eͧ̈́̌̏T͚ͨ͒̔ ̉ͧ̿Yͩ̈̏̎̒͗͂Õ̦̻̼̼͔̮̑̌͡U̗̖̭͇͖̖̜ͫ̈̀͝R͍̪̪̍̈́ͫ̓͐ ͛̒͂F͍̘̟̜U̩͙̯͎̻͂ͤ̾́́ͩĈ͙̮̪̣̇K̵̗͍͓̓̽͛͋I̻͉̤̻̠̳͠N̻̹ͦͯ̎Ġ̵̘̗͓͇͖̭̯͑̏͐ ͔͐̂ͭ͘A̱͈͚̤̥ͭ̈́̏ͨS͚̙̣̥̔̍ͥ̍S̘̩̼̬ͫË̳ͭ͂ͮS͇͎͚̣̣̻͆ ͔͈̦̬͝D̵͂ͪ̇́Ǒ͓͑͑̍ͯ̌͋W̫̫͖Ņ̹̗̙̠̞̀̄̌ ͌̂͞ͅH̡͓͇̰͔̪͕͗̊̈́͆E̗̻͉R̸̙̳Ē͖ͦ̔́͐̈̈."

Mugman gave out a shriek you could never imagine him letting go. You were in so much disbelief that you couldn't make any sounds. Doing what was best in the moment, you grabbed Mugman and pulled him a handsome amount away from the hole. The cave was silent. You looked down at Mugman, who was softly hyperventilating. "Mugman it's-"

The coin pile exploded, tiny metal bits shooting in every direction. You heard something crack and your head turned to the source of the sound. Mugman's arm was cracked. He began to scream again and instead of helping him you clasped your hands over your ears to block out the cries. This felt like a fever dream. An out-of-body experience you never wanted to have. Through your almost-shut eyes, you saw two hands reach out from the hole. They were connected to a black arm coated in thick fur. It didn't feel real. This whole scene, nothing was making sense.

Mugman's desperate cries for help grew louder as his leg was grabbed by the grey hand attached to the arm. Your eyes shot wide open, your heart pumped so fast you thought your blood would leak out through your skin. Your eyes felt like they were rolling into the back of your head from the sudden stress that overwhelmed your body. You watched in a vegetative state as Mugman was dragged into the hole, his little hands clawing at the gravel as a last attempt to escape.

The cave was quiet for less than a second when the outstretched arms came back for you. Just as your legs were in the hole in the ground, your fighting instincts kicked in. With your nails, you scratched the fur that was holding you. At one point you even leaned down to bite them. A pained groan that resembled a dinosaur rumbled beneath you, yet your attempts did not stop what was truly happening. You stared at the coins splattered across the cave wall before you were pulled to your doom.

Everything was dark, and everything was quiet.


	2. Sinners Must Pay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had to delete the last chapter because with some italic and bolded words didn't go through, which then cut off the rest of the story. But yay! I figured it out! I will post this today and the next chapter. Sorry for any comments that were lost!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Away we go with the second chapter!

You didn't pass out from exhaustion, nor fear. But for some reason as you were being pulled your mind felt fuzzy and your vision played in and out. All you knew now was you were awake, and you were sitting on what looked like the cave floor above. Except, for now, it was red. You blinked, hoping this was all a fantasy. Unfortunately, it was not. As your consciousness slowly returned to you, you prompted yourself to look around. Cave walls were a bright crimson. The ceiling was as well, and stalactites were dripping constantly.

Your pace of breath picked up a bit as you realized you were sitting on higher ground. You crawled towards the edge and were met with a steep drop off. At the base of this drop was fire. endless burning flames. All at once, your ears popped. Overwhelming screams, wails, and crying filled your eardrums. This time, you didn't put your hands over your ears. The scene of fire and smoke was met with a horrifying addition. Citizens. Those crying pleas came from people. Your eyes darted from left to right, scanning the fire, only to find just those people being shoved into the flames. Your eyes glued themselves, particularly to one woman. She had long, luscious brown hair that fell over her dainty fair-skinned shoulders. In front of her was an indistinguishable thing. A purple imp-like creature seemed to be talking to her. The woman was distressed.

Suddenly, she fell to her knees, sobbing. You could barely make out what she was saying due to their other cries around you, but you were just able to make out the sentence "I didn't mean to". Your eyes widened as the imp pulled a pitchfork from behind his back and thrust it into her chest. Her eyes looked as if they could bulge out of their sockets. You suppressed the urge to vomit as the imp lifted her life-drained body to the air and threw it into the fire. High-pitched squeals echoed through the cave as you watched her final breaths quiet, her skin boiling and flaking off at the same time.

Your mouth was open as you watched a shining ghost-like person float out of her.

The imp tapped his foot before he stabbed her again with the fork and yanked her back out. You watched as it sprinkled something over her body, healing her skin instantly and ripping her soul from the sky and shoving it back within the confines of her chest. The lady woke up, breathing heavily. "Not again!" She squealed. The imp raised his fork and stabbed her once more.

You looked away finally and bite your knuckle. Citizens were being tortured over and over, obviously punishment for something they had done. Your eyes widened. The smoke around you caused them to water as you finally realized where you were.

Hell.

You got to your feet surprisingly quick, considering the fall you had taken and the scene you had just witnessed. "Mugman?" You called out, wobbling around like a drunk person. "Cuphead?!"

You could barely hear yourself.

A sudden scream caught your eye. You looked over to see Cuphead being held by one imp, and Mugman by another. The cup brothers were holding each other's hands, desperately trying to hold on to each other. The imps were trying to rip them apart. Your cheeks reddened and you dashed over. "NO!" Your throat ached as you kept yelling that one word over and over. The cups took notice of you before the imps did. "H-Help!" Mugman stammered, using one hand to wave you over. The loss of grip gave the imps victory in separating them. "Cuphead!" The blue mug shouted as the imp carried the red cup off.

You looked at Mugman and ran over to help him. Before you could even take the third step, something latched around your throat and tightened before forcing you to the ground. You were pinned on your back with an inhuman foot pressing against your chest to keep you contained. Mugman begged for help and yelled for you as he was taken away as well.

You struggled to breathe as the imp began to drag you. Your hands clamped around the now distinguishable neck brace and yanked. You writhed and kicked and attempts were useless.

The hell floor ripped at your clothing as you were forced by a fire. The warmth made you sweat. "WAIT!!" You begged as the neck brace was released. The imp looked at you, perplexed. "If this is hell, there has to be a devil. The cups and I did not do anything wrong. We just came upon a pile of gold! It had to be a mistake!" The imp's expression changed to one that you could not pinpoint. He looked almost puzzled.

"What setting were you in?"  
You coughed. The imp's voice was rough and could send nails flying in your direction. You cleared your throat of smoke and confidently stated you three were in a cave.

The imp took a stutter step backward before grabbing your arm. You shouted at him to let you go, but he began to drag you again. Away from the fires.

Your resistance to the imp finally shattered and you let him pull you. You were too tired and too shaken to fight back.

"Where are you even taking me?" You asked once you were far enough from the flames and screams to speak. Your ears, however, still rang. The imp didn't answer your direct question. Instead, he looked at you up and down. "Try not to bring attention to yourself." He said. Before you could ask him what that meant, the imp brought you to a door. It was a grand door, with intricate carvings made of what looked like gold. The imp looked at the door before placing his callused hands on several places on the door. You looked at him, confused.

The imp stood back, and the door opened just a crack. He took your forearm again, roughly, and brought you inside.

Your eyes were met with blinding white light. When your pupils adjusted, the white lights turned into much more flattering ones. Purple, yellow, and even pink lights flourished the area around you. The area, which was a casino. Your mind hurt when you tried to comprehend what was going on. "Don't look at anyone. You are at the bottom of the social pyramid." He told you sternly, yanking your arm to get his point across. As you were told, you kept your head looking down. The imp hesitated before bringing you across the casino floor. Apart from your ashy scent, the casino smelled of liquor and strong perfumes. You held back a sneeze to avoid bringing attention to yourself.

As you walked across the floor, you could notice out of the corner of your eye that the casino-goers were staring. Their voices hushed as you came into their view. Your cheeks burned with embarrassment as you remembered what the Imp said.

You felt like you were about to cry from the emotional stew you were having by this point. The imp stood in front of another grand door. But this time, a tube with a funnel-shaped horn was on the end of it. He brought it to his mouth and begin to speak into it. The only words you could hear were "girl", "cave", and "coins". Your heart pumped.

The Imp let go of the horn and the door opened seconds later. He looked around suspiciously before dragging you in. You kept your eyes closed, for fear you would break down in front of whoever you were meeting next. "This is greed?" A booming voice called out. Your eyes peeled open to reveal a large room. Stacks of wealth lines the walls and a dashing red carpet stood below you. Your eyes trailed up the carpet to find its other end. A desk sat on the end. It looked to be made of some type of rich wood. Papers and gold coins were strewn about on top. But what was behind the desk scared you the most. 

An unholy-looking creature. Black fur lined its entire body except for its hands and feet. Two long silver horns sprouted from his forehead and came to a sharpened end. In the corner of his mouth was a thick, lit cigar. When you caught notice of him, specifically his hands and arms, you hiccuped down a scream. Those were the exact hands that dragged you down here in the first place. 

"Bring her here." 

The imp continued to pull you, sometimes shouting curses when you wouldn't comply. Hands shoved you to the ground as the imp yelled at you. "Bow to The Devil!" 

Those words made your blood run cold. You bowed your head to the creature in front of you and you made yourself look as vulnerable as possible to show that you posed no threat. You heard a low grumble from the alleged Devil. "You may go now. leave us two be." 

You didn't raise your head, but you did hear footsteps leading away from you. The door shut, and the room was filled with a heavy, quiet atmosphere. The Devil held his cigar with two fingers and let out a puff of smoke. "You can stand now." 

Your body shivered at the feeling of being alone with this animal. You closed your eyes one last time, truly hoping you'd wake up and be anywhere but here. You wanted nothing more than to see the smiling faces of Cuphead and Mugman. A pit in your stomach indicated that you wouldn't be with them and out of here anytime soon.

"Stand!" 

Your entire body jolted and you pushed yourself to your feet. As you stood up, you had time to look at how disgusting you were. Your hair was messy and your clothes were torn from being dragged so much. You looked up and made eye contact with The Devil. His eyes were sickly yellow. Red slits were where his pupils should be and it made you horrified. The Devil chuckled and leaned forward, gripping the ends of his desk and leaning over to be closer to you. "You were the one trying to steal my gold? With how you look right now it seems as if you actually did need it!" 

Was that an insult? Your eyebrows furrowed instinctively. "I did not intend to steal gold. My friends and I thought it was up for grabs, just being in the cave alone and-" You stopped halfway. The cups. "My friends!" You gasped. The Devil's smile slowly dissipated. "There were others?" He asked. Still frightened to be having an ongoing conversation with him, you pushed on regardless. "Yes. Two cup boys- Cuphead and Mugman." You told him. The Devil scratched his chin before reaching his arm up to an inhuman amount to grab another one of those horn-shaped bells. "Send back number three hundred and two with Cupman and Mughead." He said. 

You puffed your cheeks out before talking. "Cuphead and Mugman!" 

The Devil looked at you unimpressed and let the horn go. "They'll figure it out. They're smart, y'know." He said, putting his grey finger to his temple. The room was quiet again and you searched for a way to break the deafening silence. "May I asked a question?" You said. You hoped being polite would grant you an affirmative answer. You heard a carried out sigh from The Devil as he sat back in his chair, resting his elbow on the table and his cheek in the palm of his hand. "What is it?" 

You cleared your throat and dug your shoe into the carpet a bit, nervously. "Why- Why did you call me greed before?" You asked. 

The Devil raised an eyebrow. "You haven't figured that out yet?" He said, almost challenging you. "No." You replied, remaining calm. 

"You and your alleged friends wanted to steal gold, specifically my gold, that doesn't sound greedy to you?" He said. You gulped. It was best to agree. "It does. May I ask a follow-up question?" You added. The Devil blinked slowly. 

"Are there the other deadly sins?" 

The Devil's eyes lit up a bit. "Perhaps you are smarter than you look." He said, picking his head up from his hand and then laying his arms crossed on the table. "Yes, there are. For example, that little woman you were watching in the fire. She is being punished for uncontrollable lust." 

Your cheeks were dusty pink when he spoke that word. "What does that mean? And how did you know I was watching her?" 

The Devil shuffled papers on his desk. "She was a slut if you want me to put it bluntly. She hurt many people in her lifetime and it's her turn to pay. Now for your next, and hopefully final question, I watch all my sinners closely. He leaned forward on his desk again in an abrupt manner. His burning yellow eyes closed in on yours. Just him being this close to you made your blood boil. "Very closely." 

The door knocked and simultaneously The Devil slid back into his seat. "Enter." He called. 

The door opened. Instead of seeing an Imp, Cuphead and Mugman were thrown in on their rumps. Your eyes immediately welled up from seeing them after all that mess. When they caught sight of you, they both ran over and threw themselves onto you. You engulfed them both in a huge hug. They smelled of fire and in the back of your head, you pondered if they were thrown into the flames. Mugman was sniffling and Cuphead was crying tears of joy, constantly wiping his eyes. 

"This little rendezvous is charming, but we have business at hand." The Devil boomed. The cups both looked at him in astonishment. They didn't know what to believe. 

"What kind of business?" You asked, gripping the boys closer to your body. 

The Devil's low-pitched laugh circled around you three. "The business on deciding what to do with you three."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was most definitely a nightmare, but The Devil is finally revealed!


	3. They Rolled the Dice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worst comes to worst, a simple game suddenly means so much more than losing a few coins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, Cuphead and Mugman won't be in your favor so much any more than they were...

Mugman buried his nose into your chest and you held him tightly. "Can't you just find it in your heart that we didn't mean to take the gold? That it was all a misunderstanding?" You begged The Devil. He looked down upon you as if he had heard this sentence time and time again. He probably had. "Unfortunately, events happen for a reason."

Cuphead broke away from your grip and looked at The Devil with seething eyes. "There has to be another way to let us out!" He said. The Devil looked at him. He chuckled, then started to fully laugh. His foot stomped on the ground and he stood from his seat. "I love nothing more than hearing that!" He said. "Come, come." He said, walking over to us. Cuphead jolted and ran back to your protective grip. The Devil walked by you three and stood by the door. "There isn't time to lose."

You weren't sure what that meant, but you had no other choice than to follow this Beelzebub. He led you three outside to the main casino floor. The Devil took the cigar out of his mouth and at the same time, an imp ran over with an ashtray. He blew out one last puff of smoke before digging the lit part of his cigar into the tray. He waved the imp off soon after.

Your eyes were watery from the smoke he blew, mostly directed to you three. “Right here.” He said, leaning his hips against a table with an unsettling coffin-like shape. Cuphead gripped the edge with his gloves and lifted himself to peek inside to the table. Here spread out were cards, game chips, and dice.

Your heart felt like it stopped for a moment. The Devil was going to play you three in a game for sinners. “You know how to play poker?” The Devil asked with an usual toothy grin. You swallowed and shook your head.

“I do!” Cuphead butted in. “How did you learn?” You asked, hoping to make sure he wasn’t fibbing. “Elder Kettle used to play with us. It was a while ago but I think I still got it!” Cuphead said, determination brimming with voice.

Mugman sighed from behind you two.

“Very well.” The Devil said. He raised his paw to snap his fingers. Seconds later, a well-dressed man walked over from one table to yours. He wore a purple bow tie that was complemented by a full purple suit. One thing that you couldn’t stop staring at was the perfectly polished die head atop his shoulders. He looked at you up and down, most likely disturbed by you staring, before turning to The Devil.

“You called, boss?” He asked, raising his gloved hands to tidy up his bow tie. The Devil gripped the edge of the table with one hand and used to the other for motions when he spoke. “These no-goods are greeds. They are pleading the job.” He said. The die-headed man chuckled and put a hand up to his mouth to shield it. “Why don’t you give them a warm-up round, lacky?”

The man stopped his laughing but kept a little smile. “You’re well aware I don’t appreciate that name all that much now.” He said, grabbing the deck of cards and shuffling them. You took notice of how expertly he shuffled. His hands moved so smooth and quick that he almost looked animated.

“Who’s playin’ first?” He asked, looking at the three of you like you were dinner. Cuphead puffed his chest out and raised his hand. “Well, how about that.” The Die man marveled. “I’ll be pleased to see how you do.”

Cuphead lifted himself up on the table and sat on the edge of it. The Die man began to deal the cards to him. Cuphead snatched them and shot a nasty look at the man. His returning smile was devious.

“Dice.” The Devil spoke. The man looked over. “Don’t get too excited.”

Those words made you shiver.

“Here are the stakes.” The Devil began. “If you beat both King Dice and myself, you are scott free. If you do not, all three of you will complete a task for me.”

“What kind of task?” Mugman spoke.

“I have many runaway debtors- and I am a poor old soul with much too work to do to go out and get ‘em myself. How’s about you fetch me their damned souls and then you’ll be free. How does that sound?”

The three of you exchanged looks. Fear and doubt was the only expression you read.

The Devil stuck his hand out and stared at no one else other than you. “Do you accept my deal?”

You were terrified. The next choice that could free or end your soul was depended on you.Both the boys gasped as you grabbed The Devil’s hand with a firm grip and shook.

Cuphead spoke up when you let go. “Wait a darn second, how will you know if we’ll even get the souls once we win? What if we just up and run away?”

Mugman slapped Cuphead on the back of his head.

“Excellent point, my dear boy. Since you’re so confident you are going to win, how about I take something that’ll force you to do my bidding.” The Devil said.

Cuphead sniffed and laughed confidently. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

The Devil scratched his chin as his eyes traced over the boys.

His blood-curdling eyes stopped on you.

“How about I keep this dame of yours until you return with my souls?”

The cups started to argue. You were silent as The Devil shouted at them to shut their yaps. “Then burn in hell!” He roared.

The cups were silent and you turned back to look at them. You heard a chuckle from Dice.

“I trust you, Cuphead.” You said blankly.

Cuphead swallowed hard and nodded as he furrowed his eyebrows.

The Devil wrapped a hand around your waist and yanked you harshly to his side. “Looks like I got myself a brand new servant!” He said, tapping his fingers along your side.

You furrowed your eyebrows and firmly reminded him he hadn’t won just yet. Dice looked at you, then held his cards up to his nose.

You swallowed something hard in your throat as the round began.

[][][][][]

Cuphead was obviously sweating by the end of the game, but he pulled through. King Dice on the other end of the table, however, seemed unaffected. “It appears you have beaten me, young cup. Nothin’, I ain’t expect from a couple of fighters like yourselves.” He said, using his index finger and thumb to smooth out the end of his mustache. “Best of luck to you on your next trial.” He said.

You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. Why would he lose, then wish Cuphead luck? It was more than obvious that the Die man worked in this casino. Wouldn’t he be rooting for The Devil?

Then it struck you. This whole game was placebo. A set up to grant you three false hope of escaping. You didn’t dare to open your mouth for you were afraid to be punished for speaking against The Devil. Speaking of, the one you were afraid of letting go of your side and slithered up to the table. “Shuffle.” He told Dice.

The man happily obliged and began to mix up the cards in a quick and orderly manner. The Devil licked his lips in anticipation before cracking his knuckles. “Let us begin, shall we?”

The two rolled a die to see who would go first. Cuphead won that to your surprise. Unfortunately, the rest of the game was bleak. Cuphead’s weakness was having no poker face. His bursts of excitement clashed with his sweating nervousness. You opened your mouth to speak, but were met with a horrid ‘shut your yap’ look delivered from The Devil.

You stood back and watched your fate be decided. To everyone but The Devil and Dice, it was misery.

[][][][][]

Almost immediately, The Devil placed down a perfect hand. The three of your faces dropped. “T-That ain’t fair!” Mugman protested. His body started to shake in fear. The Devil held his hand out and an imp ran over seconds later to give him a cigar and lit the end of it. He placed it in his mouth and blew a puff of smoke at the boys before grinning. “Those are the rules, boys.” He said.

“-And that’s the way it’ll stay.” King Dice added. You felt tiny hands pushing you. To your surprise, imps were shoving you towards The Devil. When you were an arm's length away, he reached out to yet again pull you close to his side. “I’ll send you the details after a sleepless night. Now get the fuck out of my casino.”

“No!” Cuphead cried out. “You can’t take her away from us! She’s our best friend and we can’t go home without her!”

The Devil grimaced. “What was the deal we made again? If I recall, when you lose I take the girl and you get the souls.”

Cuphead was livid. His disbelief turned to anger. The boy jumped up on the table and kicked over a stack of chips. “You cheated you no-good, lying, lacky, son of a-”

The Devil snapped his fingers and multiple imps ran over to seize the boys. A pained yelp escaped your throat and you forced yourself away from The Devil. You grabbed Mugman by the shorts and yanked him into your grip. Cuphead was too far from your reach by this time and he was visibly crying. “No!” Your voice ached. Mugman was holding onto your tattered clothes so tightly you thought they would rip off. “Stay on me!” You told him. Mugman didn’t verbally answer, but he swung his arms around your waist. Something sharp pointed into your back and you arched in response. The Devil had gotten a pitched fork from nowhere and was prodding your back with it. When you refused to let go of the mug boy, The Devil stamped the bottom of the fork on the ground and it morphed into a cane.

Your eyes widened as The Devil wrapped the end of the cane around your neck and yanked. You immediately began to choke and gasp for air. Mugman was being pulled in the other direction. You didn’t even know where Cuphead went. As Mugman’s eyes filled with tears, you looked at him one last time before he was taken from you.

You fell to the ground just as the cane let you go. Mugman was being dragged away, fighting and crying out for you. You as well opened your mouth and began to hopelessly crawl over. The worst part of this was the patrons around the bar. Their usual daily activities turned to laughing at you. Humiliated and defeated, you smashed your fists on the casino floor.

Nothing. You felt nothing. Every emotion canceled out the other until you were just a shell pouring tears out your eyes. Two arms slithered under your armpits and lifted you to your feet. Your weakness made you lose balance and you fell backward onto a soft cushion. Those two arms now snaked around your body and pulled you closer to the fuzzy warmth. You felt his chin rest on your shoulder.

“You’re in for one hell of a ride, greed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now you're alone. No friends, no nothing. How the hell are you going to survive down here and keep sane?
> 
> This chapter was really fun to write, It's strange how much I love portraying scenes of extreme emotion!


	4. Showed The Ropes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're back! The fourth day since this came out and the fourth chapter! Pretty impressive, huh? I have about three more chapters in the making right now, so updates should be steady.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If ya need a quick summary from the last chapter, right now Cuphead and Mugman have been seized from The Casino and forced on their way to do The Devil's bidding, leaving you alone.

“You son of a bitch!”

The Devil raised an eyebrow and pushed you off of him. You stumbled, but caught your balance. “What do you get out of this? You monster!” Continuing your speal, The Devil seemed to grow less and less impressed. “What do I look like to you, sweetheart?” He asked, using his paws to motion to his whole body.

You took a step back. He was right. There was no heart in that black fur of his. “Then-”

“Dice, my trustworthy right-hand man will show you to your staying place.” He said, interrupting you in the process. You crossed your arms as you watched the sly man step up to you. “What am I even going to do around here?” You asked.

“He will tell you on the way.” The Devil then took a few steps forward and grabbed your chin between his fingers. “I’d like you to meet a few colleagues tonight. King Dice will help you get dressed and… fix up the state you are in now.”

“Colleagues?” You asked. The Devil rolled his eyes. As he did this, you realized just how overpowering he was. His fur stood on end as he spoke to you. “You ask too many damn questions.” He said. When he let go of your face, he made sure to whip your head to the side in a way of showing dominance. “Dice.” The Devil said, shoving the die-headed man towards you. “Do what you were instructed.”

He nodded and turned to look at you. You stared into his eyes. His irises were jade-green, greener than fine grass in a field. They were bright and alluring, almost like how a bright light would attract bugs. You couldn’t find yourself looking away.

“Excuse me. Have you ever been taught basic manners?” He asked, leaning over to snap in front of your face. You blinked and were pulled back into reality. “Huh?”

“Staring is rude.” He told you. “Perhaps this will be more work than I thought… Nevermind. Come with me.”

King Dice stood straight up and folded his arms behind his back. Upon looking at you for a few seconds, you noticed something strange flicker in his eyes. “I’m King Dice. I believe we should formally meet now that I’m your escort.”  
“Escort?”

He stuck his hand out, ignoring your blunt question. You held his hand as he firmly shook, while you kind of dead-fished it. “Follow me.” He told you.

[][][][][]

King Dice led you down several long hallways, each lined with stunning red carpets and speckled with portraits of The Devil on the walls. Fabulous white poles that supported the ceiling were coated in golden swirls.

Dice did speak to you, but several times you zoned out by the situation you were in. Occasionally he would snap and you’d apologize. King Dice gave you a run-through of what was going to happen in the future for you. Though you were certain he had done this hundreds of times before, he seemed calm and gentle. It was giving you a sense of comfort.

“You are now an indentured servant until your friends come back to rescue you. The only problem is The Devil has played this card many a time and not one has returned successfully.” That point resonated with you. Perhaps you’d never see your friends again. Perhaps you’d never see the sun again. A noticeable shiver caused your body to shake.

“Cold?” King Dice asked. “No.” You responded firmly.  
“Right. Suit yourself.”

Moments later you arrived at a door. Not as marvelous as The Devil’s door, yet still not sore to the eyes to look at. “This will be where you stay for now. We’ll see what happens.” He said.

He led you inside and showed you around. The room was strangely beautiful. He toured you around the area, showing you the bathroom, the main room, and the closet. The closet interested you the most. For when he slid the doors open, stunning dresses flooded the space.  
“You will wear one of these tonight. Not too fancy, but not too plain.” He said. “I’m trusting you to make an optimal option.” He said. You swallowed in response. “Can I be alone for a bit?” You asked.

You watched King Dice suck on his bottom lip. A grin rose to his cheeks. “I have been strictly instructed to not leave you alone.”  
“Not even for a second?” You whined. He nodded.

“But- But I’ve been burned, assaulted, poked with a trident, choked and on top of everything else, I lost my closest friends! Can’t I just have five minutes to myself?” You begged. At this point, you even dropped to your knees in front of him.

The King looked down upon you and seemed to actually be taking your wish into consideration. At last, after seconds of silence, he obliged. “Five minutes only. I expect your little emotional issues to be gone by then, agreed?” He said.

You nodded though in the back of your head you knew you were lying. How could someone be expected to get over these traumatic events in just five minutes? Perhaps you could just hide it and bottle it away.

The door shut and you were left alone.

You didn’t cry. You blamed it on being dehydrated from the fire and most definitely from the tears. Regret flooded your veins. You sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed your hair with both hands. You folded your body over forward and choked back a sob. It wasn’t fair. That’s the thought you ended up with. Life wasn’t fair. The Devil wasn’t fair. Nothing was fair.

Five minutes burned quickly than a sheet of paper. The door was knocked on quickly before it opened again. Dice leaned in and then stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind him. “Do you need help with picking out an outfit?” He asked.

“No.” You said, not bothering to look up at him. “Do you need help with cleaning up?”  
“No! I don’t need help with anything! Just leave me the hell alone, for the love of God!”

King Dice jolted. “Please refrain from… Saying that name.” He said, his voice rumbling like a volcano. “God? What’s the problem with it?” You asked. Dice raised an eyebrow. “You’re in hell. Patrons don’t enjoy hearing that name. Especially The Boss.”  
“The Boss is The Devil, correct?”  
“Spot on. How’s about I start a bath for you?” He suggested, going on over towards the bathroom without your answer.

The sound of water running led you to pick your head up. You laid your arms on your thighs and stared towards the ground. Minutes passed and you were beckoned to the bathtub. “I believe this is warm enough.”  
“Can you leave me be?”  
“I told you before I cannot leave you alone.”  
“Just stand outside the bathroom door!” You snapped.

King Dice put his hands up in defense and stepped out. “I’ll give you ten minutes this time. Just please get done what you need to get done.” He said, stepping out. The door gently shut and once again you were alone in the bathroom. Reluctant to bathe, you knew you would automatically feel better after doing so.

You steadily took your what was left of your clothes off and threw them to the side of the tub. You climbed in, surprised that the water was indeed the perfect temperature. Your heartbeat finally began to calm down. Your eyes closed and the exhaustion could have put you to sleep instantly.

Sadly the tormented thoughts prevented sleep. The thought of Cuphead and Mugman being beaten by a debtor, smashed to bits and leaving Elder Kettle in an empty house shot pain up your spine and forced your eyes awake. The Devil was right, tonight was going to be sleepless for both you and the distant cup-boys.

Your eyes traced over the tub to a bottle sitting humbly on the counter. You moved over in the tub, water sloshing to compliment the sudden position change. You grabbed the bottle with two hands. It was pink and was lined with spirals. A small tag hung off the cap. You flipped it over and read it. Greed.

The cap easily untwisted and you set it aside. Tipping the bottle slightly over, soft salmon liquid poured out onto your hands. The contact made your skin feel rejuvenated. Your eyes fluttered shut as you began vigorously pouring the liquid over you. The feeling of something making you relaxed was a blessing and you were going to take advantage of it.

You dipped your body underwater. At this moment, every sense in your body was put on hold. You could hear nothing, you could see nothing. You didn’t breathe.

You wanted to stay in this position, even if it killed you. Whatever it took for you to feel nothing anymore.

A pounding made you open your eyes underwater. The water stung your corneas which made you quickly resurface and rub them. The pounding was coming from the door. “Ten minutes have passed, I expect you to be out now!” You looked around, now noticing something was missing.

A towel.

You groaned and buried your face in your wet hands.

“King Dice, you forgot to put a towel in here!” You shouted. The other side of the door was quiet until a chuckle broke the atmosphere. “My apologies.” He stated. “I will fetch you one.”

A few moments passed. Moments that let your mind wander as to if he did this on purpose. “Do you want me to bring it in for you?” You heard. Your eyes widened. What kind of question was that?

“No! I’ll- I’ll get it myself! Just drop it on the floor! You called out. The door slowly creaked open and you sunk down into the tub in case Dice got any funny ideas. To your delight, a brown towel was dropped to the cold tile floor. When the door shut, it took every inch of willpower in your body to force you out of the tub. You had to say, you did feel a lot stronger than when you first got in the bath.

Your feet quickly brought you across the floor to the towel. You snatched it up into your hold and wrapped your body in it. The fluffy towel was warm. So warm. It felt like another person was encasing you in a hug.

“King Dice? Could you leave so I can get dressed?” You asked.  
“You’re asking too much of me.” He answered.

“Fine. Let me change in the closet and you can approve of what I wear.” You said. If he had to comply with the order given to him, you were going to find a loophole. You stepped out, clutching the towel to your body as tightly as possible.

King Dice sat on the edge of your bed, one leg over the other and swaying lightly. The look on his face was something you couldn’t look at for long or else embarrassment would consume you entirely. You stopped in your tracks to look at him and then quickly continued on to the closet and slammed the two doors shut.

You struggled around in the dark to find a string. When you pulled it, a lightbulb above your head lit up and brightened up the rather small closet. Your vision hurriedly scanned the dresses for one to wear. You recalled what King Dice told you. Something not too fancy, yet not too plain.

You found a white skirt hanging modestly on a coat hanger. You peeled it off and held it to your waist. A perfect fit. It made you uneasy. Nevertheless, you slipped it on and complemented it with a black top with sleeves long enough to cover your hands. You wanted something to cover you. There was no point in wearing something skimpy just to add to your vulnerability. As a final touch, you found black boots that came up to your ankles when you slipped them on.

With a deep breath, you swung the closet doors open and raised your arm to turn the light off. King Dice still sat on the edge of the bed, head facing the wall. The sound of the doors caused him to look over at you. He seemed shocked. He whistled and over exaggerated a motion of looking you up and down. “Only hell knows what a gal can look like at her worst and best.” He said.

You weren’t sure what that meant.

“Allow me to help you with final touches.” He stated, standing up and waltzing over to the bedside table. You hadn’t taken notice of it until now. The wood of the desk resembled the desk that The Devil resigned behind. You walked over to meet him, where he then handed you a hairbrush.

You looked in the mirror. All the scuffles you were in mixed with being in water had resulted in your hair being a bird’s nest of tangles. King Dice shook the brush impatiently when you didn’t take it at first sight. When you brought it to your hair, it took a fight to work out the knots.

King Dice kept throwing things on the desk. Makeup items. You watched half-heartedly as he threw almost every type of makeup on the wood. “King Dice.” You spoke softly, putting the brush back onto the table. “I don’t feel in the mood to wear all of this after I have just cleaned up.”

You saw Dice’s movements stop as he turned to look at you up and down again. He then pushed the drawer in and stood in front of you, tall and prominent. You looked up into his unforgettable green eyes as he looked at you all over. “You do have a rather pretty face when it's plain.” He remarked and held your cheeks with his gloved hands. “As you wish.”

King Dice began putting the makeup away. You figured this was a good time to strike up a few questions. “What am I getting dressed up for? I mean- I know I’m meeting colleagues, but what’s going to be happening?”  
“They aren’t colleagues as much as they are like you.”

You blinked twice to take that in. “What’s the meeting going to be about?” You added. “I can’t say for sure.” Dice began, shutting the door with a thud. “I believe it is one of those trials where you have to figure it out as you go.”

You weren’t a fan of large social gatherings, which is what you hoped this wouldn’t be. Alas, you had already bombarded King Dice with mountains of questions and you decided it was best to let him rest from answering them.

“I’ll take you there, but then I have places to be. The only one that will be there that you’re familiar with is The Boss. Try not to embarrass yourself in front of him.” He said, holding his elbow out. Quizzically, you looked at it. The only other time someone had offered this to you is when you’d dance with the boys in Elder Kettle’s living room.

The thought of them made your legs weak and you coiled your arm around and into King Dice’s. Not only did the man escort down the hallways again, but he provided a foothold. Along the way to wherever he was taking you, you found yourself leaning into him more and more with each step.

The two of you came to a stop and by this point, your head was on his upper arm. King Dice cleared his throat, making you stand straight up with a jolt. “Yes?” You asked.  
“We’ve arrived.”

A double-door separated you from whatever laid inside. King Dice retracted his arm which caused you to wobble without the needed support. “I most likely won’t see you until tomorrow.” He said, standing up straight to puff out his chest and hold his arms behind his back.

“If you survive this, that is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a quick recap, you are about to enter the doors of The Devil's meeting room. Where in this room he holds trials for all you sinners.


	5. Affiliated with the Worst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally after a grueling 24 hours you are able to see what absolute nightmares occur behind those two doors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the kind comments, it really makes my day and I feel like I can’t express my gratitude enough, I’d give anything for you guys! Okay that’s enough of that, let’s get readin’!

Those words left you with utterly no emotion. King Dice gave you a prestigious bow before pivoting on his heel and walking in the other direction, leaving you alone. Your breaths were small, yet audible. You turned towards the door, almost regretting going inside. Deep down the fact that you would be caught and punished for escaping was obvious.

Placing both your hands on the door, you pushed. The two doors creaked as the slowly opened. You stood in the doorframe, one hand on each door as you centered yourself in the middle. In front of you was a long table. Chairs that speckled around the sides met with a large throne at the head of the table. The Devil sat there, but when he took notice of you, he sat up. His eyes traced you all over. His cigar almost dropped out of his mouth.

Devil brought his composure back together and held the cigar with two fingers, tapping it and letting ash fall to the table. “You’re rather late, greed.” He remarked. You let go of the door and walked in a few steps so the door wouldn’t hit you when it closed. “I’m sorry.” You whispered.

“I don’t need apologies. Take a seat.”

You quickly walked over to a free seat. Patrons sat at every other chair. They all studied you before The Devil shuffled papers o his table, bringing everyone’s attention away from you. Instead of looking at The Devil, you looked around the room at everyone else seated. One man in particular looked ghostly white. He was scrawny, possessed a pushed-back hairline, and could never seem to sit still. His temples were sweating and his eyes moved a mile a second.

You heard faint blowing, and peeled your attention away to look at The Devil, who was puffing his cigar smoke. The room was so eerily quiet. To occupy yourself, you kept examining the other people in the room. They were far from simple.

Another man caught your attention. He had fiery hair and broad shoulders. You caught him glancing over at you a few times before The Devil spoke. “I’d like to thank you all for showing up.” The Devil began. He then chuckled and took his cigar out again. “Not like you had any choice.”

There was no laughter in the room except from his. “Let’s get down to business then, shall we?” He asked, now sorting his papers. “As most of you know, you are organized into which sin brought you here. Here at these trials I will decide your fate from the work you had been doing. Let’s begin with Wrath.”

Two citizens stood up. The fiery-haired man and a horrifically skinny woman with candle for a head. Jet black hair drooped down to her shoulders. She placed her hands on her hips and looked rather angry.

“Don’t look at me like that, doll. You know what’s coming.” The Devil sneered. “It’s ain’t even my fault I’m in ‘ere, furbag.” She snarled back. The Devil rested his head on his hand. His forked tail swished behind him excitedly. “So because your husband cheated you just had to kill him?” He asked.

She gritted her teeth. “I done my work for today.” She said. The Devil clicked his tongue and looked at his papers. “It says here you skimped out today. Yesterday you quit hours before you were allowed to clock out and… Here I believe it states you punched a bargoer for looking at your chest.”

The lady now had fear in her eyes. “What would you ‘ave done in that situation if you were me? I’m just a gal trying to repay debt I ain’t even owe! I don’t want no extra eyes on me!”  
“You have done this several times before. I have no use for you this time.”  
“Pardon me, sir! If I can just explain what really happened you’d let me be free from this crime!”

Meanwhile the red-haired man stayed completely silent.

“I don’t want any more excuses. I want justice for your actions.” The Devil hissed. “No! You can’t be serious!” The Devil reached behind his chair and pulled out that all-too recognizable trident. He stamped it on the floor and at three ceiling panels opened. Three imps dropped from them and grabbed the lady. “Get your fuckin’ god forsaken hands off of me ya goon!” She shouted, pulling at them.

The Devil stopped and stamped his trident again. The imps let go and scurried away. “I believe I made myself more than clear when I said I didn’t want his fucking name said in my dwellings.” He said, now rising from his seat. We walked up to her and grabbed her throat. She began to cough and sputter. You held your throat and sat back in your seat.

She began to cry for help, but was unfortunately silenced when The Devil slammed her head onto the table. Immediately, fresh blood splattered over the wood. He did it again, and again, until no life was seen in her eyes.

The people around you were too quiet for this to be comfortable. Once her body was let go and fell to the floor, The Devil returned to his seat. “Let that be a lesson to all of you sinners.” The Devil pointed upwards. “You say his name in my casino, you end up in the seventh layer of hell.” He growled as imps began to run over and take care of the mess.

Everyone nervously nodded. You looked towards the fiery-haired man. He was now sitting. The nervous, skimpy man was holding the sides of his head. “Envy.” The Devil said, waltzing back to his throne. No one stood.  
“Envy.”

The poor man abruptly rose from his seat. He was clutching the sweat-stained shirt that stuck to his chest. “A little imp told me you were jealous of someone in this very room.” He said. The man shook his head and made a strange sound that resembled a dog.

“Why do you deceive me, Envy?” He said. “Speak to me who you were envious of and your punishment shall be lightened.” The small man shook his head before looking up. His weak arm pointed to the fiery-haired man. “Exactly.” The Devil finished. “Would you like to tell us why?”

“H-He is in better fig- st- shape than I.” He stuttered. This skinny man could barely speak. “I must not be envious I must n-n be- envo- Must not- No.” He said. The Devil tapped his sharp nails across the wood. The sound was deafening. “You’ve been skimping out on your work. Helping the singers getting dressed, you often had to hide away because of your own thoughts. Dirty, dirty fuckin’ thoughts.”

The man flinched. You watched the action. Was he a pervert? You wondered as the man could barely find words to prove himself innocent.

“No-o sir.”  
“You are making me angry.”  
“S-Sir sorry I-I’m apol-”  
“Are you doubling sins? Do you wished to be charged with both Envy and Lust?” He asked.

The man began to squeal and slam his forehead on the desk. You covered your mouth with both hands from this shocking turn of events. “If you cannot handle this than you are not worthy of walking on this terrain!” The Devil shouted. He gripped his trident and threw it at lightning speed. It plunged into the man’s chest where it then caught on fire, therefore setting the man on fire as well.

His incoherent wails filled the otherwise silent room to the ceiling. His last words before burning his body to complete ash were nothing but swears to God.

He didn’t stutter once.

The Devil slumped back into his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked livid. “I’ve already had two executions in one meeting. This gettogether is adjourned until tomorrow’s.”

The people stood up in front of their chairs. You watched and then hastily did the same.  
“Dismissed.”

Everyone began to leave the room in an orderly fashion. You struggled to find a place to get into line, but The Devil’s voice prevented you. “You.” He said, pointing directly to you. “Stay here.”

You shivered and began to feel that sense of panic. Was he going to add another execution to the night? He pulled a chair out from behind the table and set it right by his side. “Take a seat.” The Devil’s words lured you to the seat and you sat down, still shaking.

“You seem to fit right in.” He told you, wrapping a claw around your waist and pulling both you and your chair closer. Nervously, you tucked your hair behind your ear. “Thank you, I guess.”

“You’ve been through a lot today, huh? It’s always like that on the first day.”  
Your heart ached when it beat. Just reminding you of today’s events caused you silently whimper. You didn’t answer The Devil. You were too afraid you would start bawling in front of him. The Devil’s grip on your side tightened. “I’ll tell you how things work around here. We assign jobs to each sinner. Jobs that please the bar goers and the all around casino community. For the way you look I think you’d make a superb waitress.” He said, his tail swishing again. From the corner of your eye, you could see him moving his head closer.

You were still silent. The Devil continued on. “I’ll go easy on you for the first few days, just because I think you need some time before you toughen up. Just get to bed and I’ll finish tomorrow. You look like you’re about to have a stroke.” He said.

You stood up and you felt his hand slide down your waist, hip, and thigh before falling to the chair. Without a word, you walked out the double doors. They slammed behind you.

The hallways were a bit confusing to trace. Eventually after many failures and dead ends you found your room. You walked in and kicked your shoes off. Leaning back against the now- shut door, you closed your eyes and sighed. You were about to drop to the floor until a brisk knock at the door took the last straw.

You spun around and ripped it open. “What?!” You snapped. King Dice stood in the doorway, hand still raised from knocking. He smiled innocently and opened up his jacket and searched around in a pocket. “I believed a little help getting you to sleep would make you feel better.” He said, pulling out a small blue vile. “Drink this entire thing when you’re ready to sleep.” He said.

“How can I trust you on this?” You asked.  
“Baby, have I ever done anything to hurt you since we met?” He asked.

You furrowed your eyebrows as you knew that he knew the answer to that. Without any warning, you yanked the cork out of the vile and dropped it to the floor. You threw your head back and chugged the liquid until not a single drop was left.

Your vision began to feel weary and you let the vile slip from your grasp. The last thing you saw before falling into unconsciousness was King Dice’s worried expression, then lunging forward with his arms out.

[][][][][]

You shifted around a bit, eyes squinting hard even though they were closed. You rolled around before finally forcing your eyes open. Though you couldn’t tell if it was day or not, considering you were underground, the good night’s sleep was an indicator that your sleep schedule was still on track. You sat straight up and rubbed your eyes. Realizing that the events yesterday were not a dream, your stomach dropped.

Strangely, your body was healed. This must have been due to the pink bottle that rested in the bathroom. That lead you to think of the blue vile that gave you a good night’s rest. That then made you think about who gave it to you.

Sure enough, sitting on the edge of your bed was a note. You scrambled over to read it. “You fell asleep before you arrived in bed. I helped you out.”

For an ungiven reason, your heart pounded. Come to think of it, King Dice had done nothing but helpful things after the aided in your loss. You held the note to your chest and looked towards the door.

Today was a new day in hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> King Dice has been nothing but a kind soul! Something seems off here...


	6. Worked to the Bone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Devil has started your endless work of being a waitress, but thankfully a friend swings in to give you a much needed break from it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been getting so many nice comments that I don’t know what to do!! Thank you guys for reading and enjoying!

As you got yourself dressed in the morning, the same thought kept crossing your mind. If King Dice was instructed to be watching over you and never leave you alone, just for a second, where was he now? This brought shivers up your spine because the next question you had was if there were any imps watching over you at this very moment.

Acting as least suspicious as you possibly could, you carried on with your usual morning routine. Washing face, brushing teeth, getting dressed.

When you bent over the sink and splashed the cool water across your face, the feeling of having your eyes closed and partly submerged in water brought your mind back to the bathtub. Having everything dark and quiet was slowly becoming your happy place.

You weren’t sure how long you were bent over the sink, but when you stood up and felt a crick in your lower back, it gave you a clue. Reluctantly, you stepped away from the counter and dried your face off with a similar towel to the one you had used prior.

After finishing the rest of your necessities in the bathroom, you headed to the closet. You weren’t sure what to wear, which brought your attention to the outfit you had on at the moment. It was the same skirt and top from last night. When did you fall asleep? And how?

There was a knock on the door. Why did this always happen when you were deep in thought? Maybe The Devil has a way.

You trudged to the door and gripped the doorknob. Your eyes closed for a second as you froze in this position. The fear of today’s events struck you for a few heartbeats. Nevertheless, you opened the door.

“Good morning, King Dice-”

The Devil stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised. You were silent. Once again, that uncomfortable atmosphere settled in. “Why would you think I was that lacky?” He asked.

That was a loaded question.

“What do you mean? He’s the one who has usually been greeting me.”  
“Why would he do that?”  
“He told me that you instructed him to do so. To not leave me unattended for a second.”

You watched as your words made The Devil’s fur spike up. Feeling vulnerable, you took a cautious few steps back. “Right.” He said, gritting his teeth. “Of course I told him that.”

You didn’t say anything. His words sounded held back.

“Why are you still wearing what you wore last night?” He added. You held the ends of your skirt and looked down. “I’m not sure. I just remember being with King Dice and then waking up.”

The Devil clenched his fists, then let them relax. “Nevermind that. I have an outfit for you to wear today and then we’ll get to work.”  
He walked by you, shoulder bumping into yours, then made his way to the closet. He fished around in the clothes, often throwing some to the floor.

You watched behind him as he found his pick. His tail stood straight up when he pulled it out. “Here we are.” He said, tossing a small outfit towards you. You grabbed it and held it against your chest before holding it out in front of you to examine it.

Much resemblance to the outfit you had on, this outfit consisted of a long, flowy black dress with golden seams, complimented by a white apron like cloth tied around the waist. The top had a golden bowtie and a white collar. You looked at it and recalled him telling you you’d make a great waitress.

“I’ll be serving the bargoers?” You asked. The Devil nodded. You then remembered last night. The poor candle lady who perished. She spoke of people staring at her in horrid ways. What if the same thing happened to you?

“I’ll escort you and explain on the way to the casino. Get dressed.” The Devil said. You quickly got to the closet and shut the doors and wasted no time changing. Upon leaving the closet, The Devil was hesitant to speak. “Come on.” He finally said.

He led you out of the only place that made you feel the slightest bit of comfort and led you down the hallways. Very soon after you left the room, someone rounded a corner and started walking down towards you. King Dice. When he caught sight of you with The Devil, he stutter stepped. Once he came close to you two, he and The Devil exchanged looks. Dice looked almost angered while The Devil uttered a low growl from his throat.

You watched the action until King Dice passed by. Questions erupted in your mind as to their relationship. They seemed compatible yesterday, but now there was some bitter rivalry. You didn’t say anything, The Devil was sensitive to controversial topics.

“Here we are.” The Devil announced a few seconds later. “The work is fairly simple. Patrons will flag you over if they need assistance. You help them, then go help others. It’s so easy that lacky could do it.”  
You swallowed a lump. Did The Devil really not like King Dice? His vitriol towards him was hard to ignore. Dice was incredibly helpful to you after yesterday’s trauma. You pinned a temporary answer on The Devil not appreciating nice gestures in hell.

But that answer could change.

“I’ll be watching you occasionally. Try not to fuck this up.” He said, placing a hand on your cheek. His thumb circled around your cheekbone before he took his hand away and left. You were frozen in this position. His touch was similar to a giant petting a rabbit. The Devil could crush you at any second, but was behaving as gentle as a puppy. This is what tormented you.

Once you snapped out of thought, you turned to the casino’s action. Goers of all shapes and sizes flooded the area. Your heart started to race when you knew you were going to be overrun with requests. Being a waitress may had more work hidden under the skin.

Before you could take one step, a hand was placed on your shoulder and squeezed it tightly. “Ma’am, can you fill us up?” You were asked by a man with a cork for a head. The hand that was on your shoulder was a hook while the other was was a metal spiral. You looked behind him to where two ladies and another man were sitting. All had objects atop their shoulders. Your eyes brightened up as you fully faced him. “Y-Yes- What will you have?” You asked.

“I’d like to have a tall glass of you.”

You shook yourself from his grasp as he and the others began to share a laugh. Your cheeks turned red and you left the area since that was an obvious drunken mistake. You were so quick to leave the scene that you bumped into another patron.

A woman turned around and scowled at you. “Klutz!” She snarled and went back to watching two men playing a game of billiards. You mumbled an apology and backed away. Perhaps sitting behind the bar was the best place to get situated for now. You meandered your way through the crowds and clot machines until you got to the bar.

You shielded yourself away from the casino floor by closing the small half-door behind you. The open bar had patrons sitting all around it, each with a glass or can in front of them. You took in a deep breath and let the scent of alcohol hit your nose. It was a smell you’d have to get used to.

You looked at the people serving them bargoers. Two men and a woman. One lady had a wine glass sitting where a head should be, an olive soaking in the liquid that filled the cup. She had droopy purple eyelids and swayed a little when she walked around the area. The other men also had cups for heads. One was a shot glass. He was rather short and had a big, red, goofy nose. The other was tall and had a flask head. He was quick with his movements. Almost as if his life depended on it.

The smaller bartender walked up to you. You looked down at him. He then cocked his head to the side. “Newcomer?” He asked. You looked at the three of them and noticed they were all wearing matching suits.  
“You ain't supposed to be back here, little lady. This is for us bartenders only. Yer obviously uh waitress.” He said, blinking slowly.

“You’re right, I am. I just came in here to take a break from all the bar goers. They’re a little much.” You said. “I just came here for a breather.”  
“The Devil don’t take kindly to no slackers.”  
“I’m not slacking!”

The other two took notice of you and stopped what they were doing to aid in the help of pushing you out. “We don’t appreciate newbies in our bar area!” The wine woman said. “Now scram!”

The three managed to talk you out of the bar. Once again, you were in the midst of the bustling casino area. “You come to us with orders and we fill ‘em. Nothin’ more!” The other man snarled.  
“Fine!” You snapped back, fixing your apron.

You grabbed a notepad out of a pocket in your outfit and managed to fish out a pen as well. You weren’t sure when The Devil had slipped these into your pockets. The sneakiness of that bastard was uncanny. Your eyes scanned the area for any patrons that might flag you down. Fortunately, one did.

It was a woman on the heavier side. Her hair was thin, colorful icing. “Yes? How can I help you?” You asked her. She looked at you up and down. The candle woman was right, looks were common. “Just a light bourbon, please.” She said. You took notice of a cigarette in her mouth as she took in a breath and blew it in the opposite direction.

“Yes ma’am. I’ll be back.” You reassured her, scuttering back to the bar. The wine glass woman shot you a glance until you gave her the order. She scanned it quickly, and with hands like magic, she fixed up the drink. She slid it across the bar table, a bit of the drink sloshing over the side and gently dripping down the glass.

She then slid you a tray. “This thing here will become your best friend.” She told you. You placed the drink on it. The tray was harder to hold than you thought it would be. One wrong step and both you and the drinks would be on the floor.

You nodded towards her and set off in the other direction. The cake-like woman was sitting in the same place she was when you first saw her. You gave her a smile and lowered the tray. She took the drink and sipped it. No thank you, just a side glare.

Quietly offended, you backed away and found other patrons to serve. This wasn’t so bad, right?

[][][][][]

Later on in the day, after countless hours of work, you were worn. Your body turned itself on autopilot while taking orders and serving them. Your steps became rugged and that signaled you to take a break. You knew The Devil wouldn’t like it one bit, but you had to rest or else an actual problem would happen. 

You leaned against the casino wall and let the tray that was once in your hand drop to the floor. It made a clashing sound and you groaned in response, letting your eyes close. You were bone tired. This is what it had come to. You were a stupid waitress in an even dumber casino serving for the biggest douchebag on this planet. It had only been one day, but you would commit crimes to be able to walk on the surface again with real sunlight… And your friends. You knitted your eyebrows and curled your fingers into fists. Too tired to have an outburst, you just stayed quiet.

“Darlin’, The Devil won’t be pleased to see this part of you.” You heard a familiar voice say, directly in front of you. You opened your eyes. King Dice was standing, hands behind his back in that signature pose. “I just need a break, King Dice. I’ve been working for hours.” You said, bending over to pick up the tray.

“I can take you somewhere if you’d like a real break.” He said.

You looked up at him and fixed part of your hair that dropped in front of your eyes.  
“You mean it?”  
“Of course, baby.”  
“What if The Devil finds out?”

Dice licked his lips and grinned. “You don’t worry your pretty lil’ head about that. Dice here can handle it.”  
You smiled. At this moment, King Dice was a savior. He stood in front of the fluorescent lights, illuminating his figure. You fought back the urge to jump and hug him as a thanks to helping you keep your sanity. However, you were in a formal place and intended to keep your actions formal too.

Dice stuck his elbow out and you quickly snaked your arm around his.

[][][][][]

King Dice had been leading you around hallways and up stairs. The second floor of the casino was even more magnificent than the first. It was here that Dice brought you to a plain, white door.

“Where are we?” You asked.  
“My dwellings, darlin’.”

As he let go of your arm and stepped forward to unlock the door, you wondered why the door was so bare. You’d think that someone as well-dressed as him would have some type of door like The Devil’s. When you walked in, you realized why.

Inside was a magnificent, Greek styled room. There was a circular bed with red sheets while the rest of the room was pearl white. A large window looked out onto a field. Unable to control yourself, you ran over to look outside.

“This can’t be. Is this above hell?” You asked. King Dice shook his head and walked over, placing a hand on your shoulder incase you needed support for the news he was going to deliver. “Sadly, it is not. This is an illusion The Devil had placed in front of my room. I believe he created it to torment me. The truth is, I’ve come to appreciate the different setting.” He said. “Don’t get me wrong, now. I enjoy nothing more than the warm hellfires, but difference is healthy.”

You placed a hand on the glass. “It looks so real. The flowers, the sky- Even the birds are flying like they did up above.” You whispered in disbelief. King Dice’s hand moved to your shoulder farthest from him when you felt yourself begin to lean. He guided you to his chest, where you laid, staring into this illusion.

“If you enjoy it so much I guess I got no other choice than to let you visit whenever you’d like.” He remarked. You found strength in yourself to look up. “You’re joking.”  
“Not in the slightest.”

The first genuine smile since you arrived in hell crawled to your lips. “Is there any reason why you’ve been nothing but good to me since yesterday?” You asked. You watched King Dice stare out into the field, not answering at first. His mouth opened, but words were hesitant to escape, almost like he didn’t know what to say.

“We’ll see, darlin’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy oh boy King Dice is givin’ ya the runaround. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s chapter!! 


	7. The Truth Will Lock You Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Butterflies in your stomach usually lead to horrid realizations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m home sick right now with I think the beginning of the flu. Don’t worry, I have plenty of time to type now and I am constantly drinking water and ginger ale and all that! I’ve got a cozy blanket and some tissues by me. We’re all good!

After a straight hour of bliss with King Dice showing you around his private room, you felt much happier and loads comfier. Unfortunately, time ticked away, which according to Dice, meant you had to attend that dreadful meeting you sat through last night.

He lead you to the door and took your hand in both of his. You stared at this gesture and once you looked up to meet those unforgettable eyes, a feeling crossed your chest you haven’t felt in a while. He smiled at you lovingly and squeezed your hands. “I may not see you first thing tomorrow. I apologize in advance for that.” Dice told you.

You nodded. The intense eye contact and gentle touch actually made your body feel warm. So warm that your cheeks dusted red. “Until next time.” King Dice spoke, actually adding your real name to the end of it. He raised your hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it, still staring into your eyes.

Your heart pounded, but not from fear. You felt yourself smile and turn your head to the side to avoid anymore embarrassing eye contact. He let your hand go and it slipped to your side. King Dice then turned and walked off. Even after you were alone, you were still grinning.

After you got over your little giggle fit, you opened the doors to the meeting room. There were a few other patrons there, but not many. The fiery-haired man stood in front of his seat. All the sinners were standing as well. Not wanting to stand out, you pulled a seat out a bit and stood in front of it, holding your hands together in front of your body.

It only took a few minutes for the rest of the sins to pour into the room. You noticed two empty seats. Envy and Wrath. You felt sorry for them and hoped their weren’t suffering too much. The room was quiet as you all waited for The Devil.

You kept catching the fire-haired man looking at you.

Two doors burst open, swinging all the way until the hinges couldn’t go anymore. The Devil stood in the doorway and stamped his pitchfork on the ground. Everyone sat, and you quickly did the same. “Thank you all for being on time.” He state, eyeing you at the same time. You slumped down into your seat a bit.

“Let’s get right to it.” The Devil said, making his way down by the table. He was walking on your side. As he passed you, you felt his tail cross against your calf. You shivered.

“My favorite sin, Lust, how are we doing today?” He said, adding a throaty growl. Two women stood up. “It always pains me to see more women than men. Doesn’t your kind ever learn?” He asked, leaning forward. The two women he was talking to looked unholy. They looked like disgusting, low-level, roadside hookers. One was wearing a skimpy outfit that was eighty percent fishnets, had a shaved head, and had too many piercings to count. She was smoking a cigarette as well. The other was a bit more formal. She had long dirty blonde hair and was wearing a purple skin-tight dress. Her eyes had long, grey bags under them.

You looked at them and sat even further back in your seat. They must have been through something rough to end up like that. To The Devil’s surprise, they didn’t answer formally. “Look. We may had been havin’ shags in the back room.”  
The other slapped her shoulder.  
“Why did you tell ‘em?” She scolded.  
“We’re talkin’ to the damn Devil, Scarlett. What ‘dya expect. He watches all of us all the time.” The girl with the shaved head said to the blonde.

You suddenly felt your throat get tight. He watches all of you at all time? Then he must have seen you and Dice sneak off. You began to silently panic as you watched the rest off the conversation with the Lusts went on.

“You’re right.” The Devil said, looking at his nails before putting his hand on the desk. “Then why did you do it?”  
“We’ve been down ‘ere for who knows how long. I just wanted some excitement.”  
“You both realize you have to be punished.”  
“I don’t give one shit and I doubt Scarlett do either.”

The Devil chuckled. “You two are nothing but degenerates, aren’t you?” He said, leaning forward. Looked like he was getting a kick out of this conversation.

“We’ve have nothing left to lose, sir.” The blonde one said. She seemed to be much more polite. “Let’s settle it at this. Both of you will be downgraded, hell knows how much more you have until you hit rock bottom, to let’s say… Cleaning business.” He said, grinning.

You heard groans. “On top of this, you will spend one full day in the cremation room.” He said. The two girls then groaned louder and the one with the shaved head banged her fist on the table. “You are one fuckin’ son of a bitch!” She snarled. The Devil’s expression changed. “Do you want to end up like those two yesterday?” He asked sternly.

The girl slumped back into her seat and crossed her arms, pouting. “That’s what I thought.” Now to our next deadly sin. The Devil said, stacking his papers. He paused, then his mouth pulled into a grin. “Greed.” Your head perked up, and you stood. You were the only one.

The Devil smiled at you and paused a horribly long amount of time before speaking. “You have had a clear day today, have you not?” He played. You chewed on your bottom lip. You could feel the sweat dripping down your back from utter fear. If you lied, The Devil would punish you. He knows all and watches all. There was no use in lying. If you told the truth, he would also punish you.

“My day was clear, sir.”

You watched The Devil’s eyes flicker. It made you tremble. “Are you sure?” His tone was nothing but sweet torment. You nodded spastically. “Very well. Sit down.” He told you. Confusion took you over for a second, making your seating awkward.

The meeting lasted for at least fifteen more excruciating minutes and no executions took place. The Devil dismissed everyone and the sinners made their way out the door. Though you hurried, you were the last to get to the door. By the time you reached it, they swung shut.  
You audibly gasped and placed your hands on the door. Not even five seconds passed by the time you found yourself pinned against the door. Your body was pressed against the cold gold linings and two giant hands were firmly in place by your head. Hot, heavy breathing beat down on your neck behind you.

“Turn around.”

You hesitated and closed your eyes as you gently spun around. The Devil was horrifically close to yours. Because there was little space, you could see things on him you hadn’t seen before. First, the scent of a lit cigar mixed with ashes hit you. Second, you noticed how each one of his teeth came to a small point at the end. You imagined him biting into your flesh as punishment for what you did today.

One of his hands traced down your face and held your chin. You froze as he forced you to make eye contact with him. “Why do you deceive me?” He asked innocently.

Your body felt extremely hot. When your mouth opened to speak, only gibberish escaped. The Devil used the hand that was on your face to cover your mouth. His hands felt dry against your lips, causing you to whimper. “I didn’t want to cause a scene during the meeting. I think everyone needed a mental break from yesterday’s tragic events.” The Devil spoke, acting as if it wasn’t his fault for the executions.

The room was silent until The Devil whispered words that made you want to cry. He leaned down to your ear, making you even more flustered.

“I saw lacky take you away from the Casino.”

You reached your hands up to hold The Devil’s furry wrist and pry it from your mouth to enable speech. With shut eyes, you began to speak. “King Dice is the kindest soul I’ve met down here since you dragged me into this mess! I needed just an hour to myself after all that dirty waitress work!” You cried out.

The Devil leaned down. He was inches away from your lips. “Are you aware that I never asked him to watch over you after the first escort to your room?” He asked.

Your eyes snapped open. What on this planet could that mean? Why would King Dice go out of his to watch over you and make sure you were okay-

You looked up into The Devil’s eyes. They were slitted uncomfortably thin. You watched as he licked his lips. “Will I be punished for my actions?” You asked, trembling. The Devil chuckled with a dark undertone.

“You won’t be the one getting punished.”

Your entire body shuttered. “No, No!” You begged. “Please don’t do anything to him. He’s just trying to make me feel happy down here!”  
“I can damn make you happier than he ever fucking could!” The Devil roared, smashing his fist onto the door, too close to your head for comfort.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? You shrieked from the aggressive move. “I’ll do extra work! I’ll go to that cremation room or whatever it was! Please Devil, don’t mess with King Dice!” You pleaded.

The Devil let out a bark of laughter and pressed his lower body into yours. “You act like he and I haven’t had our differences before, babe.” He said. You furrowed your eyebrows and gripped his arm tighter. The Devil quickly looked down at your hold on him, then back to you.

“Something you’d like to say?” He asked.  
“No.” You eventually said. “Just let me leave.” You were almost certain Dice could outwit his way out of a fight. The Devil wasn’t letting you go and you had to push him off of you. You dusted the fur from your waitress outfit and turned back to the door.

“Please open it.” You said. The Devil reached over you to open the door. When the space was just enough for you to fit through, you made your escape. The double doors shut behind you and you let out a breath of relief. Before you even fathomed the thought of warning King Dice about the The Devil’s intentions, you took notice to how hot your body felt.

Ignoring it, you ran down the hallways and up the stairs until you reached King Dice’s room. You ravishly knocked on the door, begging for it to be answered. When no one opened the door, you opened it yourself. To your surprise, it was indeed unlocked.

You ran around the room calling for him, searching every inch. When every place had been checked, you realized what had happened. King Dice left his door open for you to be able and come in to look out the window whenever you please. He must have regret to realize that meant The Devil had easy access to him as well.

The curtains that were white as snow and attached to the window swayed to the side for an unknown reason. You looked out the glass and stared in fear. Why were these two suddenly in combat?

And why did you feel the cause of it stemmed from you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spooky spooky mysteryyyyyy
> 
> Alright serious question, I am debating wether to write full nsfw scenes, but there are a few things stopping me
> 
> \- I am just barely under 18  
> -It’s so embarrassing oh my god
> 
> Please tell me what you think!


	8. A Quarrel for Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter I’m super proud of, not only because of The Devil action, but for the “Devil and Dice” action too!

After at least forty-five minutes of intense searching King Dice’s room, the endless hallways, and even the busy casino floor, you had no luck in finding either Dice or The Devil. There was only one last place you could think of to find him. His office area.

Your feet nervously dragged you across the casino floor. That feeling similar to hopping room to room during the middle of the night in a brisk manner, because if you didn’t, you were certain something you creep up on you and attack. You tripped up while walking, but caught yourself right before you lost balance due to that unsettling feeling.

After all this time of searching, you found yourself trailing back to your room. You looked towards the bathroom. The comforting memory of last night’s washing returned to you and you began to long for that feeling again. Eventually you did start running the water. You swayed your hands against the warm bath water and noticed just how relaxing watching the ripples was. You sighed and began to take off your dirty waitress uniform, laying it to the side of the tub.

When you laid yourself down in the water, letting it incase you in it’s sensory deprivation, a horrid thought crossed your mind. You should have kept looking in The Devil’s office. How selfish, dare you say greedy, it was of you to give up and begin caring for yourself. You felt guilt pool up in your abdomen. At least you felt guilty, that was good, right?

You buried your face in your wet hands and curled your knees in. Just to fill the empty air, you decided to hold a grieving with yourself. “I didn’t put him in danger, did I? No, they must have these kinds of fights constantly. I bet both of them will turn out fine-” You stopped yourself. Why did you care about how The Devil turned out?  
While you used the contents of the pink bottle you did last night, you couldn’t get The Devil off your mind. When your hands trailed up your arm, it felt like his paw. You shivered and took your hand off quickly. Just to make sure you were you, you checked your palm. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

That was terrifying.

You combed your hands through your hair and remembered how flustered you felt when he had you right where he wanted you after the meeting ended. The interrogation, the up close and personal speaking, his hands holding you from escape. You dipped your head underwater and washed your hair as quick as humanly possible before surfacing again.

After cleaning the rest of yourself, you took the plug out of the tub and got halfway out until you realized you had forgotten a towel. Groaning and mentally slapping yourself on the back of the head, you got out anyway and made your way across the bathroom floor to snatch it from the hanger. You were freezing when you stepped out, but the towel wrapping you up made everything better. You shivering subsided and you let the pseudo-hug win you over.

You dried off most of your body, but kept the towel around you. You thought what made this towel so cozy was the sheer texture, but you were wrong. It was the fact that it was given to you by King Dice. His name crossing your mind was enough to make you feel fuzzy and fall back onto the bed. You gripped the towel tighter and smiled as you recalled his kind gifts to you.

But that smile faded when you remembered he could be in danger at the moment. The constant battle of seeing him beaten to a pulp or escaping unharmed raged on in your head. You actually grabbed the only pillow you had by the headboard and pressed it over your face. You kept having arguments and outcomes cross your mind until you couldn’t anymore. You couldn’t think anymore, for you had fallen asleep.

[][][][][]

Loud knocking made you shoot up from your rest. Your chest heaved breaths from the sudden awakening. You looked down your body, realizing you weren’t covered, and wrapped the towel tightly around you. The knocking persisted.

“Just a second!” You called out, running to the closet to find something to slip on. To your luck, you found comfortable dress pants and a blouse. You dressed yourself insanely quick and headed to the door. You stood in front of it, fixing the buttons on your top. Who was there? You were afraid to answer. Another sequence of knocks passed again.

Not wanting to dwell in the mindset you were in right now, you decided to up and open the door to get it over with. King Dice stood in the doorway, a bright smile on his cheeks. “King Dice!” You said, your lips curling into a smile of disbelief. “Are you okay?” You asked, your eyes searching him up and down to find any marks from a fight. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about me.” He said. He looked unusually confident.

Perhaps if there even was a fight, he came out victorious.

Overwhelmed with the sudden confirmed safety of Dice, you lurched forward to hug him. Your arms swung around his torso, yet under his arms. You squeezed his chest tightly and pressed your cheek to the clothing right under his bow tie. Not long did it take for King Dice to return the gesture. “This is highly unlike you?” He said, quizzically. He had a playful chuckle in his voice.  
“I know, I’m sorry.” You said, backing away. You noticed just how similar King Dice and the towel felt around you. “I was looking for you last night and I got worried when I couldn’t find you.” You told him. You watched his jade-green eyes flicker in curiosity. “And why were you searching for me, baby?” He asked.

You stood up straight, noticing how controversial that sounded. Now that that particular question was asked from him, you weren’t sure why you needed to see him. Why even were you concerned about his well being? He was part of the reason why you were down here, right? But he was so kind to you after. You looked up to meet Dice’s eyes and devious smile.

Embarrassed, you averted eye contact. “I guess I thought you and The Devil were in a fight or something.” You said. A heart-filled chuckled made you feel even more flustered. “The Devil and I in a fight? Darlin’ girl we are closer than two peas in a pod.” He said. Your eyes widened.  
“-But last night! After the meeting The Devil told me you were going to be punished for the break you gave me!” You said.

Dice’s smile drained for less than half a second before widening. “I heard about your little altercation with The Devil.” He said, changing the subject entirely. “What altercation?” You asked. “Ah, you’re probably right. The Devil does tend to inflate the truth sometimes.” He said, reaching his hand up to fix his moustache.  
“What does that mean?”  
“Just rumors.” King Dice said, smiling and putting a hand on your shoulder to rub it. Admittedly, it felt heavenly.

“Get on your uniform, baby. You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry soon.” Dice told you. You turned your head but out of the corner of your eye you swear you saw him wink. “My outfit is dirty from yesterday.” You said, showing it to him, stains and all.

The King took it in his hands and examined it. “I’m sure there are spares in that little closet of yours.” He said, folding the uniform against his chest and draping it over his forearm. “I’ll be sure to wash this one for your use tomorrow.” He said.

You nodded to him. King Dice smiled to you, reaching his free hand up to place against your cheek. His silky gloves cooled down your warm cheeks. Your gaze met with his, and he leaned in to peck your cheek. Only it wasn’t a peck. Dice pressed his lips to your cheek for an everlasting two seconds. In the moment, it felt like forever.

His pull away was slow and genuine. You smiled in a goofy way and averted your gaze. King Dice promptly turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him. Once the air was quiet, you squealed quietly. You’ve always kissed Cuphead and Mugman on the foreheads, nose, or cheek before they went to bed. This kiss was different.

Unfortunately, King Dice was right about being late. You hurried to get changed and washed up, then out the door. Your feet were quick with the giddiness of Dice being on your mind. Thankfully, that got you to work on time. Some familiar faces of the casino goers caught your eye. Some were new as well. You headed over straight to the bar where the three alcohol-heads were.

“We got a tall order for ya.” The wine-glass girl said.  
“Already?”  
“Yeah. ‘is a big tray so you betta be careful.” She warned you, slapping the trap down on the counter before expertly filling every square inch of the tray with a cup or glass. “You gonna serve that table ova there, and this table ova here. Now that last cup-” She said, motioning towards a glass with gold swirls along the sides. “You know who dat ones for. ‘E’s at the poker tables.”  
Did you know who that was for? You nodded at her, guessing you’d figure out who it was when the time came. When you served the first table, crude remarks about your curves were made, but nothing bothered you. The thoughts of King Dice overwhelmed any depressive feelings you were experiencing.

The next table was quiet, for they seemed to be intoxicated enough already.

Now came the last drink on your tray. You pushed your way through crowds of unknown patrons until you found the heart of the casino. Poker tables. Your eyes scanned the area to find anyone who stood out. Then, you spotted him. Your heart jumped into your throat and you became so shaken you almost dropped your drink.

The Devil was sitting at the table, a grimace over his lips and eyebrows furrowed. He was staring you down like you were dinner. You pulled at your collar as he beckoned you with one finger. The table had several other patrons by it, mostly men. They seemed to be in the middle of a game. You made your way next to him, placed the drink down quickly, and smiled at him.

“Enjoy, sir!” You said. You took one step in the other direction, but The Devil prevented you moving any further by swinging an arm around you and firmly placing his claw on your hip. You gasped and looked at the placement when he yanked you to his side. “I’d like to up my wager.” The Devil sneered, licking his top lip. A casino goer asked him what the stakes were.

“Everyone throw in an extra fifty. I’m buying something nice for this dame right here.” He said, tapping his fingers along your waistline. The table starting hooting and hollering. The whistling of the men made you blush. “That yo girl?” One man asked. The Devil chuckled and ignored the question. He picked up the drink you brought him and brought it to his lips. When his eyes closed as he sipped, you noticed he had a bald patch in his fur over his eye. It was almost unnoticeable if you weren’t so close. It became clear. That small area was a scar.

Your jaw dropped a bit. That most likely could have been from Dice. It had to be, you hadn’t noticed it until now. “Devil!” You said, holding your tray over the front of your body. “I have to get back to work, remember?” You said. The entire table laughed and you clutched the tray even harder. The Devil yanked you onto his lap and ripped the tray from your hands.

“Don’t you know how to take a break, baby? You certainly did yesterday with my lacky.” He said. Your eyes snapped wide open and you shielded you face as the table roared in “ooooos” The Devil placed on hand on your upper thigh and used the other to finish off his drink. “Now back to it.” He said. Everyone around the table, including him, slapped another fifty in the center of the table.

The Devil gripped your thigh as he eyed all the cash. You knew deep down damn well The Devil would cheat. And that’s what he did.

The table erupted in angry swears as The Devil cackled and slapped the knee you weren't sitting on. “That’s what you low-lives get!” He swiped up the money and drank in the anger around him. The patrons began to angrily disperse.

He snapped his fingers twice and an imp ran up to his command. The imp had a cigar on a plate which The Devil happily took. “Take these winnings to my office.” He said, handing the imp the money.

The imp saluted and ran off towards the direction of the office. The Devil took his hand off your thigh and snapped it a few times as well. Except this time, his index finger lit up in a flame. You felt yourself flinch and scoot backwards into his chest. Your cheeks almost lined up with his.

The Devil laughed and waved the flame too close to your face. “What’s the matter, darlin’?” He asked playfully, clearly mocking your sudden fear. “Afraid of a little danger?”

He wrapped his arm around you to be able to light his cigar and stick it between his teeth. “I apologize if I’m not used to The Devil waving fire at me.” You said, backing away from his chest. He extinguished his lit finger and pushed you back to his chest. His fur felt like it was encasing you.

“Then eventually we’re gonna have to get you acquainted with things like that.” He said, sliding his hand through your hair. You furrowed your eyebrows and sat up, taking his hand off of you. When you were face to face with him, you caught sight of the scar again.

“Where did this come from?” You asked, pointing to your own eye. The Devil looked shocked for a moment before furrowing his eyebrows. “Don’t you have a job to get to?” He asked, with a grin.  
“Yes! I did before you pulled me over here!” You said.

The Devil stroked his chin and chuckled. By changing the subject, he snapped his fingers. A skimpy imp doddled over, holding a necklace with the brightest red ruby you’ve ever seen. The Devil grinned as he unhooked it and threw it around your neck. The metal against your skin was cold, yet the ruby felt hot.

When he hooked it behind your neck, he looked at you from the front and marveled. You looked at it, then him. Because you were beyond confusion, you had no words to say.

“I’d like you to accompany me tonight after the meeting.” He said, gently nudging you off his lap and standing up. “Why would you want me to do that?” You asked.

“I’ve got something I’ve been dying to show you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who are you guys pining for right now? The arrogant and malicious Devil, or soft-spoken and gentleman Dice?


	9. What You do Isn’t Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Devil isn’t too ecstatic about you palin’ around with Dice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so delighted to get all these fresh new faces reading- Speaking of which... We’ve hit one thousand views!!!!! Thank you all!

The dreadful meeting felt like it lasted centuries. Every ten seconds The Devil would glance over to you and grin deviously. You sat in your chair, dreading the worst for what laid post to the meeting. Strangely, the only thing that made you feel more comfortable was watching an execution. A prideful man, top of his business and shoving it all in everyone’s faces, lost his life.

The meeting was adjourned, and you stayed right in your seat exactly how The Devil told you. When the doors shut, you felt that horrid quiet feeling. The Devil took his sweet time waiting to talk. “Are you ready to see?” He asked. 

You cleared your throat to avoid sounding hoarse when talking. “That’s a very obscure question.”  
The Devil pushed his chair back and stood up. “Then leave the words behind and just see for yourself.” he remarked, walking over to you and holding his hand out.

You looked at it, then up to him. You didn’t really have a choice, did you? When you took it, he yanked to to his chest, wrapping his arm tightly around you. You entire body was pressed harshly against his fur and it took struggle for you to break your head away for air. The Devil materialized his trident in his hand, raised it up, then smashed it to the floor with all his might.

You squealed in fear and wrapped your arms around his torso tightly. He seemed to like that very much. The ground began to shake and you were so afraid that you closed your eyes and held onto The Devil for dear life.

Ironic.

The next time you opened your eyes, you felt hot. Not the kind of hot like when The Devil had you against the door, but hot like you were just within the lick of a raging fire. You were exactly like that.

The Devil had you close to him, hand on your hip sternly. Your hands were clutching to the fur on his chest as you looked out onto the vast hellscape in front of you. The both of you were on top of a cliff that had a steep drop-off. “Look at my world, darlin’.” He said. You didn’t want to. When the all-too familiar screams hit your eardrums, you felt sick.

“I made this possible with my own two hands.” He said, his fingers tapping along your thigh. “All these sinners finally get what they deserve after all their years of walking this planet.”

This is where you felt your end was met. “Have you come here to throw me in?” You said, sounding even more than defeated. At this point, you accepted it. Cuphead and Mugman were on an indentured journey that no sinner has ever completed before. There was no way you were leaving this place.

The Devil swept a leg under your feet and kicked you off balance. In one swift motion, he wrapped on arms around your waist and gripped your hand with the other, intertwining your fingers. You had one foot on the ledge, the rest of your body was at the mercy of The Devil.

“Now why would I do that, baby?”

Your breathing was slow as the warmth of the fires below beat against you. “Because I’m a greed. And I constantly keep screwing up around here.” You said, bluntly. The Devil chuckled and leaned in uncomfortably close. His scent of cigar smoke made you feel… tired? Perhaps you were finally getting accustomed to the usual around this place.

Though your heart rate was through the roof, you felt so incredibly relaxed. The screams around you didn’t seem to affect you that much anymore either. The Devil squeezed your waist and lifted up up slightly. His eyes lidded about halfway, then closed. From the sheer exhaustion, you closed your eyes too. The ruby around your neck started to heat up.

It was at this moment that he kissed you.

He raised your lower body up even more to his as he furrowed his eyebrows. You, overwhelmed by it all, lead your free hand up to his cheek to hold it. The Devil turned his head to the side and pressed further in to you. You could feel his tail stroking your calf, then curling around it.

You felt him pull away for a second just to come back in. He let go of your hand, which enabled you to hold his other cheek, and for him to wrap his now free arm around your waist. If you weren't so wrapped up in the moment you could have sworn you heard a low growl in his throat.  
The Devil’s hands became a bit too adventurous at this time, and when you opened your eyes in shock, you were back in the meeting room. You pulled away, much to The Devil’s disappointment, and looked to the door.

King Dice was leaned back against one of the doors. He was staring at a pocket watch unimpressively and looked up with only his eyes when you came back to the room. Feeling extremely guilty, you gasped and shoved The Devil off of you, who had a lovesick grin on his face.

“That was an awfully cheap move to pull, even for you, boss.” King Dice muttered, stuffing the pocket watch into a pocket inside his jacket. The Devil licked his lips and let his tail uncoil from your leg. “I feel as if I remind myself to you of who I am constantly.” He spat back.

“Mm. And each time I find myself less and less amused.”  
“You seem a bit upset, lacky. Something on your mind?”  
“I believe we’ve held the conversation about calling me that.”

You could sense the aggression in their voices. That’s when it snapped. “Whenever I find a nice gal down in this fuckin’ nightmare of yours you always swoop in and try to best me!”  
“Maybe we simply have the same taste in women, lacky.”

King Dice gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Seconds later, he began to remove his jacket. He quickly folded it and tossed it over a nearby chair. “I would like you to desist. Right now.” Dice calmly said whilst removing his gloves.  
“And if I don’t?” The Devil replied, grabbing you by the top of the head and yanking you in a way so now your lips were once again inches apart.

King Dice rolled up the sleeves of his undershirt and grimaced. “Then last night’s mistake will repeat itself.”

It was at this moment that you saw a large bandaged scar trailing across Dice’s upper arm. You shot your gaze to The Devil’s scar on his eye. The damage on King Dice was clearly worse. The Devil chuckled and let you go, pushing you to the side.

“If you’d like to leave baby, you’d better leave now.” He told you.

King Dice walked up to The Devil rather casually. “I don’t appreciate you calling her that, Devil.”  
“And I don’t appreciate you using my name so informally, lacky! Maybe this dame isn’t into your roughhousing type. I’m sure she’d rad spend her time here with me.”

King Dice’s eyebrows furrowed as he reeled back his arm. When he thrusted his fist forward, The Devil caught it and knocked Dice in the cheek with a punch from the other hand. You stumbled back, feeling the blow that was delivered to Dice.

King Dice fell back a few steps before regaining himself. “I’ve told you this hundreds of times, lacky. I’m the fucking Devil. Someone of your class can’t compete.” He grinned, walking towards Dice to grab his wrist and squeeze it so ungodly tight. Dice coiled his fingers into a fist and knocked The Devil right back.

The Devil, surprised by Dice’s actions, growled. He began to grow in size. His hair stood on end as his horns began to curl in, much like a goat’s. His claws grew as he grabbed King Dice by the undershirt and picked him up before throwing him to the floor.

Dice hit the ground and groaned, struggling to find strength to rise again. The Devil’s eyes caught fire as he reeled back his arm. If you didn’t act now, The Devil would kill King Dice.

“Hey!” You shouted. Both of them turned to look at you. All the heat was on you. “If you kill each other, the casino will be ruined.” You mentally hit yourself for that. Taking the subject off of you and putting it on the good of the casino was a horrid idea.

The Devil’s eyes extinguished, and he shrunk a bit. “If all your patrons leave from the drama between you two, you’ll have no one else to gamble from! Does that not bother you?” You said. The Devil narrowed his eyes at you. He didn’t shrink fully back down as a way of asserting dominance. He then walked by King Dice, purposely kicking him on his way out the doors.

When they slammed shut, you ran over to King Dice’s aid. “Dice!” You said, holding his hand as support to help him stand. He smiled at you in a way that brought every horrible feeling up inside you. “Why would you do this- Why did you do this last night and not tell me?” You whined.

“I didn’t think you wanted to know so badly.”

Once he was standing, you wrapped your arms around his chest. You felt teary-eyed, knowing that his pain was your fault. When he hugged you back, the sensation was something completely different from The Devil’s. You smiled and took a deep breath. Instead of smelling burning fire and cigars, King Dice smelled like fine wine and fruity cologne.

“How did The Devil have his way with you?” He asked. You moved yourself in the hug to where you were talking to him, but still had arms around each other. “He took us to the place where I was when I first fell down here. Then he held me and I felt… Oh so safe.”

King Dice sighed and looked towards the ceiling for a second, then back to you. “That bastard.” Is all he said.  
You let go of him, and he did the same to you. “Do you want me to help you with any of the… damage?”

King Dice chuckled and shook his head, placing his hand on his red cheek where The Devil had hit. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.”  
“At least let me walk you back to your room?”

King Dice smiled when you offered him his coat.

[][][][][]

The trip back to his room was rarely silent. Throughout the hallways, you two bantered about how King Dice ended up in the casino in the first place. The story was quite interesting, really.

“Some people just end up here. I was a patron who kept finding himself here every month, then every weekend and so on. I believe one night I actually stayed in one of the rooms illegally.” He said, tugging his collar when he admitted that.

“I think The Devil just has his way with his patrons.”  
“But how did you become so close to him?”  
“You say that like we’re friendly.”

You laughed a little when you sensed the playful tone in his voice. “I believe he took likings towards me when I almost bested him in his sick cheating game of poker.” He said, smoothing out one side of his moustache.

“You were able to beat him?” You said, absolutely in shock. “Almost, darlin’. He noticed I was gettin’ a bit too excited which made him step up his game. He cashed in his cards and I lost quite the load of cash. Then shortly after the game he pulled me aside and offered me a deal I couldn’t possibly turn down.”  
“What deal was that?”  
“To be eternally safe from hell whilst remaining his right-hand man. Unfortunately while I am indeed immune to the fires, The Devil doesn’t stop trying to make me miserable.”

“So he tricked you?” You began to feel sorry for him. “In a way, yes. But I’d rather be above all those commoner patrons.” King Dice spoke, looking ahead to the path.

“Time flies when you’re talkin’.” He said. You nodded, not wanting to talk over him with some remark that you would most likely regret. You two were silent as you faced each other just outside of his door. “I suppose we can leave this conversation at ‘everything happens for a reason’.” He said, pulling his overcoat off and slinging it over his arm.  
“How can you be so sure about that?” You asked as King Dice placed his hand on the doorknob. He stopped the motion of turning it just to chuckle and look at you. “Because I’ve witnessed it countless times.”

His door creaked when it opened. King Dice seemed hesitant for a minute. He sucked air in through his teeth as if he was debating on a decision.

“Would you like to stay for a bit?”

Without any questions, you nodded your head. King Dice grinned like he had just won a prize and tilted his head towards the inside of his room, signaling you to go in. You followed him into the rather dark room. “I didn’t know the illusion outside could also look like night…” You whispered, being pulled towards the pseudo-moon’s beauty. 

The door shut behind you and King Dice set his doat down on a nearby chair before meeting you at the window. He held his arms behind his back and looked up. “Do you like it?” He asked. You were too stunned to notice. Many a times did you and your adventurous buddies run around during the night, catching fireflies and singing careless little tunes that Elder Kettle had taught you.

You curled your fingers into a fist and placed it against your chest. “I’d give anything to see the real thing again…” A long, carried out sigh above you made you think King Dice wanted to see it too. You turned your head to look at him.

The moonlight flourished King Dice. The soft light chiseled out his figure and especially his face. His eyes were a glowing, green pool of mystery. You caught yourself staring, and he did too. He smiled down at you, lips curling into a smile. “What are you lookin’ at, doll?”

You turned your head away back to the night-kissed field. It took you a minute to piece together the words you were going to use. “You look very… nice. Under the moonlight.” Above you, King Dice uttered a satisfactory “hmph”. “Would you care for something to drink while you’re here?”

Now that he mentioned it, you were quite parched. “That would be fantastic right about now.” You said, hearing King Dice turn on his heels and walk towards the desk where his coat was at. Above was a glass cabinet you hadn’t taken notice to. Dice opened it up, revealing about four glasses of wine, all different shapes and sizes, and many, many intricate glasses.

You looked at them, then him. “Oh no, I couldn’t.” You said, not wanting to impose.  
King Dice was already pouring a glass, leaning back against the wall.  
“Are you sure?”

You watched the wine hit the glass, but refused again. “I’m sure- Thank you, though.”

Dice topped off the glass and placed the bottle, uncapped to the side. He raised it to his lips, took a sip, then held it near his chest. “Suit yourself.”

King Dice walked over to his bed and sat on the end of it. When you turned to face him after having your fill of the moonlit field, you noticed he was looking at the floor. “King Dice?” You asked. He lifted his head rather quick to look at you, and gripped his glass tighter.  
“You okay?”

Dice placed his glass on the floor and removed his gloves as he spoke. “All this conversation between you and I has got me thinkin’.” He laid his gloves down beside him on the bed and leaned over to pick up the glass. His free hand moved up to rub the back of his neck.

Knowing this expression of being deep in thought from your past friends, you walked across the room to sit next to him. “Thinking about what?” You asked.

King Dice paused, then picked his head up. He smiled, and tilted his head over to look at you. “Nothing you don’t have to worry about.”

Dice always seemed to tell you this whenever something serious was happening. It made you feel like a child being pushed away when the “adults” were having a strict conversation. “Dice please, it’s nothing I can’t handle.” You said.

King Dice took another sip of his glass before putting it back down on the ground. He smiled at you and it felt like a challenge. “You really wanna to know what I’ve been thinkin’ about?” He asked. “Yes!” You answered. “I do!”

He smiled and placed a hand on your thigh. You turned towards him, looking right into his eyes with confusion. He lifted a hand to your cheek.

“I’ve been thinkin’ about you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go all you little Devil sinners, there’ll be more where that came from I’m sure


	10. Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [CHAPTER CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENT]  
> Remember what King Dice told you? Yeah, he means it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap guys I am so sorry! I had a huge sports play-day at my school that lasted the whole day and completely forgot to update, sorry sorry! I am running low on chapters to post ahead of time, we'll see what happens.
> 
> Also... Archive has been telling me the website is overloaded and sometimes has trouble refreshing... Anyone know anything about this?

Your face started to feel warm. He rubbed his thumb around your cheekbone and looked at you with an intense love-sick grin. “I don’t understand what you’re saying?” You said, though that pit in your heart knew exactly what he was saying, you just couldn’t believe it.

“Will you understand if I show you?”  
“You can surely try but-”

Without another word coming from you, Dice had pressed his lips to yours. Instead of feeling sleepy like when you were with The Devil, you felt shocked. Your eyes were wide open as Dice moved his hand down to your jaw. You felt guilty, but pushed it down for now.

You were in the moment, having your way with the one person who made you felt human. You scooted forward a bit just for the sake of wanting to feel closer to him. All you yearned for at this moment was just to be as close to him as possible.

King Dice then slid a warm hand up your dress and held your waist. You opened your mouth, but barely any sound came out due to the shock. Dice grinned with pride, but the sound of a clock striking made him frown.

You turned your head towards an old grandfather clock in his room and widened your eyes. “It’s… past midnight.” You said, sitting up. King Dice looked afraid and turned his head to you. “I should probably go back to my room-” You muttered, sitting up. King Dice once again opened his mouth to speak but closed it before he actually said anything.

“Right- I’ll escort you back.” He said, also pulling away. You tucked your hair behind your ear. Both of you were obviously flustered and awkward, which made walking back to your room all the worse. King Dice didn’t let you wrap your arm around his. You weren’t sure why, but you didn’t ask.

“I’m… Sorry- To cut that off so soon.” You whispered. Your feet dragged across the hallway more so than actually walking. Dice took a deep breath and unbutton the top button on his undershirt. “Don’t sweat it, baby. I’m sure we won’t be interrupted again the next time.” He said.

Even implying that there was going to be a “next time” and also implying that you two would go even further got you to smile from embarrassment. “I hope not.” You whispered.

The two of you reached the doorway to your room. Facing each other while you stood. “King Dice…” You began. He looked down to meet your eyes.

“Have you fought The Devil like that before?” You asked him. He looked as if he planned on you never asking that. Would he lie to cover it up?

“Only once or twice over silly things.” He said, wanting to cut the conversation short. You asked a follow-up question that was rather unrelated. “Do you think The Devil will be mad about this?”

King Dice smiled and let his eyes close a bit to give him a more relaxed look. “I don’t doubt it one bit.”

He leaned down to peck you goodnight before returning to his own room. You waited for him to be out of sight before entering yours. You shut the door behind you and the loneliness crept in. Why the hell did you leave?

You flopped down onto the bed and closed your eyes, forcing yourself to try and sleep. You imagined Dice next to you and grabbed a pillow to simulate his body. That action helped immensely, and you drifted off without a problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is gonna be a thrill, I swear.


	11. From the Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is- Strange.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is unfortunately starting to wrap up! I’m trying to make these last few chapters as long as I can with as much detail as possible!

When the sunlight prodded you awake, you sat up almost immediately. Your head felt a little razzled and finally you had an answer as to why. Just thinking about last night made your cheeks feel a bit warm. The fact that you were so afraid just days prior compared to now, where you were having little intimate events.

However, you were still a sinner and had to do your duties as one would. Reluctantly, you found yourself out of bed and preparing for the day. The same routine was done again. But… Today was strange. Within the few days you’ve been here, getting up and preparing for the day was unbearable. It felt like you had weights strapped to every inch of your body, completely halting you from finishing even the simplest task.

Today was strange. You jumped out of bed, brushed your teeth wide pride and didn’t even pause when washing your face to feel that submergence. When you put your waitress uniform on, you were intent on finding the reason why you were so full of life.

A telling pit in your stomach told you it wasn’t from King Dice.

No one came to greet you this morning. On a regular day, you’d feel happy. The absence of someone at the door ment more alone time. Today was strange. You wanted someone to be there. Having no one to escort you to the casino floor caused you to feel guilty.

But today was strange and that didn’t affect you.

You walked down the halls by your lonesome. The engravings on the wall didn’t catch your eye anymore. Perhaps you were used to them. Perhaps you didn’t care. Each step you took felt bouncy, as if the floor was made of rubber.

Arriving at the casino floor brought a whole new emotion you hadn’t felt in a few days. Actual joy. A large smile crept to your cheeks as you watched the patrons stride or slump from one game to the next. You took a deep breath, and the now pleasuring scent of fancy alcoholic drinks hit you. It made you ditzy with happiness, and you wanted to get closer.

Your feet quickly took you over to circular bar. Before any of the three drink mixers there could degrade you, you leaned over the counter to swipe the tray up, salute them, and be on your way. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see their disbelief.

Casino goers flagged you down left and right, catcalling and even rarely complementing. You noticed a patron you saw on the first day. The cork-head. Without him calling for you, you walked over to him by yourself. He was facing the opposite direction, and the people he was talking with began to take notice of you.

You tapped his shoulder, and he turned to face you. The cork-man paused, then whistled as he looked you up and down. “Say sweet cheeks, how’s about you fil-”

You grabbed his tie and brought him in close. He squeezed his eyes shut and puckered. An evil flare built up in your eye as you brought your hand up and slapped him across the cheek. Not too hard to start a fight, but just enough to tell him to fuck off.

“Next time don’t call what you can’t have, sweet cheeks.” You cooed, saluting him and spinning on your heel to strut off in the other direction. You could hear laughter behind you. Never in your life have you felt so triumphant. It was intoxicating.

Everytime you checked the clock above The Devil’s meeting room doors, an hour would have passed. You smiled through the work, for it didn’t feel like work.

It felt like another day at home.

A strange, soul-withering day at home.

[][][][][]

When your shift ended, part of you felt like a hole was opening up in your gut. Like you had nothing else to do for the rest of the day. The meeting. That dreadful meeting caught your mind. A red flag sprouted in your head and all your hyped-up joy vanished within the blink of an eye.

You remembered what you had done with Dice. You knew how The Devil was going to act. Fear crept up your every vain. Feeling so vulnerable, you hated it.

You began to undo your apron, but something stopped you. An Imp was in front of you, in all his purple fiendish glory. “What?” You asked.  
“Follow me, miss.” He said, tugging at your skirt. You quickly re-tied the apron and let him lead you to your next destination.

That door. The door you had faced with a different imp just a few days ago. That fear crept up on you, but you were stronger this time. The imp knocked on the door three and a half times. You raised an eyebrow at how that was even possible.

The door slightly creaked open and the next thing you knew that imp was shoving you in what space that crack was giving you. You were about to turn around and curse him until you met with that same monster you had before.

Today was strange.

“Come closer.” He said. You took a few steps in and let the door shut behind you. You noticed a smaller chair by his desk. Unwillingly, you walked across the room and took it.

The Devil’s lips were pulled into a small frown. He looked to have something on his mind. It had to have been the night with King Dice. You were terrified to be charged with yet another sin. “I have regret to give you something.” He said.

His facial expressions lead to to believe something really was wrong. The Devil held his hand out, and with a quick flip of his wrist, a ball of burning fire erupted in his hand. You stared in awe as the warm colors twisted and coiled around a sheet of paper.

He let the fire dissipate and all that was left in his hold was a small piece of paper. The paper under his fingers crinkled a bit due to how hard he was holding it. “This was given to me by an imp two days ago. I considered not even giving it to you, but now I notice how unfair that was to do.”

Your eyes darted from the paper to The Devil’s eyes. “Well, what is it?”  
The Devil looked ashamed as he placed it on the table and slid it over to you. As he did this, he turned his head away, as if he was preparing for you to get mad at him.

And that’s exactly what you were going to do.

Your fingers curled around the sides of the paper. Your whole body was tense while you flipped it over. Poor, smudged handwriting covered the paper. You swallowed and almost choked.

“Hey buddy! It’s cuphead! And Mugman too! Yeah Yeah, anyway we already got started handin’ it to them bosses! Mugman’s got some cool battle scars from the first-island debtors! Yeah! I can’t wait to show you once we break you outta there! Mugman we ain’t breakin’ her outta there! We’re getting her back fair and square, just like That Devil said! We really miss you around the house. And we really really miss you telling us bedtime stories. Don’t worry, we’re on our way!”

Your favorite friends Cuphead and Mugman”

You quietly put the paper down on the table. Being in this place had drained you of them. Reading this letter brought back the fondest memories of you telling ghost stories and heroic adventures to them before they slept. How could you have forgotten?

You had only been here for a handful of days, why were you quickly forgetting all the life you had before you got here? The Devil looked at you with apologetic eyes. You had rage in yours. “You… You planned on not giving me this letter?!” You snapped.

The Devil chuckled. “I was going to eventually, and look! I did!”  
“But you didn’t give it to me right when it was sent!”  
“Was there a rule on me having to do that?”  
“Then why did you suddenly decide to give it to me now?”

The two of you quarreled back and forth until The Devil had gotten angered. You could see the fire build up in his eyes when the words came out of his mouth. Eventually, you made a bold move you would have never seen yourself do. You stood up and pulled your skirt to the side as a polie “fuck you” gesture.

You sneered at him. “I don’t need this.”

The Devil’s eyes were quiet for a second before they erupted into flames again. “Are you actually trying to walk away from me?” He asked. You knew if you answered that question with a yes, it would leave you nothing but a pile of ashes.

“Yes.”

A low growl erupted from The Devil’s throat. His arm lurched forward, stretching longer than it should have just to grab you. The quick movement made you yelp, but the movement of him pulling you back to the desk made you yelp louder.

He looked at you. That flare in his eyes was mesmerizing. The Devil had you pinned against the side of his desk. He stood up and happened to seem taller than he usually was. Then it hit you, The Devil had purposely made himself larger to intimidate you.

It was working.

“I, am The fucking Devil.” He grabbed his trident that was resting behind his chair and lifted it. It burst into flames as well. The Devil’s free hand was placed on the area of the desk beside you. He leaned in, and you leaned back. “-And you have the audacity to leave when I am having a conversation with you?”

You suddenly realized how badly you messed up. But you didn’t apologize.

“I don’t fucking understand you!” He roared, slamming his trident down into the desk behind you. There was nowhere to run now. Every inch of space between you and him was sealed off. You were scared beyond belief. Your chest heaved breaths like you were on life support.

“You steal from me, then come to my casino, then you suddenly have the willpower to stand up to me?” He was inches away from you, and you felt like the floodgates in your eyes were about to open. He was so overwhelming with anger that it made you feel like fresh meat.

“Do you know what I do to people like you? I fucking burn them. I watch their skin and flesh melt right off the bone. Do you want to end up like that?”  
You furiously shook your head no and forced yourself to open your eyes and look at him.

“Good! Because next time I catch you sneaking off with lackey, being a bitch to my customers, OR standing up to me, I swear I will have you torn apart limb by limb-”

Maybe it was all the screaming in your face that led you to this. Maybe it was because being so close to him reminded you of earlier incidents where the situation was similar.

Maybe it was because the argument and overpowerment made you feel dizzy.

You had lunged forward to grab his horns and smash your lips together. You at first missed, but quickly moved to the right spot. The fire in his eyes burned yours a little before they extinguished. The tenseness in his body subsided. You pulled away, you hands sliding down to his ears.

He was looking at you in complete confusion. You opened your mouth to apologize, but before the second word got out, he interrupted you. “I don’t understand you, but sometimes I have to admit I take liking to the diversity of my sinners.”

You backed away, the edge of the desk digging into your side. “How about we forget this whole little argument, but we still follow the rules, okay?” He asked. You nodded and noticed the hand without the trident had lifted.

You tried to roll over out and away, but he slammed it down and stopped you.

“For a price.”

Your eyes traced over to him slowly. “You already basically have my soul… What more do you want?” You asked, afraid of what this price would be.”  
“I easily have your mind, I almost have your soul, there’s just one thing missing.”

Those words pieced together, and your heart skipped a beat when the realization came true.

“I want you as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes yes I know you just had an experience with Dice, but there HAD to be some Devil action in this story.


	12. The Worst is Yet to Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and The Devil have some fun, but always interruptions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, guys! Second to last chapter. Yes, this one is shorter, but the next one I am planning to be crazy long just to be able and sum everything up. It's been a real journey and I hope you stick around for another!

With little hesitation, The Devil wrapped you in a fiery embrace and coated the room in darkness, when you reappeared, it was not where you were.

Where we they now?

The Devil yanked your hair back hard enough to make you screech. “Focus on me.” He demanded. All of his hands grabbed you on your waist and sides, spinning you around before abruptly stopping you when you faced him. “I’m the only thing that matters to you.” He growled.

You buried your upper half into The Devil as he reached forward to grab his trident. You heard him utter a low grumble from his throat that didn’t quite make it out his mouth. One of his fingers curled up, making your grab fistfuls of his fur.

Suddenly, an all too familiar feeling crawled up your body. Flames. You pulled away from The Devil to see yourself not in hell, but over it. You stared down at the flames before you, eyes wider than an open door. A scream bubbled up in your throat until you saw all the sinners being punished under you, screaming for you.

You watched as countless imps stabbed, burned, and mutilated citizens right below you. A particular person caught your eye. The sinner with firey-hair. Wrath. You heart could have raced out from your body. How did he end up here? You didn’t recall a meeting where he was punished.

His facial expressions were stone cold emotionless. You looked at what he was wearing. It was a perfectly stitched red suit to match his flaming hair. He had on black, pointed spectacles and even had a pen behind his ear. Your jaw dropped a bit. He couldn’t have been a proctor of this hellscape, could he?

Sure enough, an imp was fighting with a sinner. The man walked over and the imp instinctively held the sinner out. The fire-haired man lifted his boot and kicked the sinner into the flames. You shrieked at the sight. Someone that had quietly been along your side through this ordeal was now a part of hell.

Then, something dawned on you. How were you viewing all of this? A tight feeling around your waist indicated why. Silently, you spun your head around to see The Devil floating in mid-air. He thankfully only had two hands now, but was holding you very carelessly. You looked down again. You were high up. High enough to not be detected, that is.

You started squirming from the initial shock, but stopped when you decided that moving was not the best idea this high up in the air. The Devil stared down at you with devious eyes and a dripping smile. His eyes were slit like goats. “What are you doing?!” You said, breathless from both the previous events mixed with the current one.

The Devil heaved you upwards, literally throwing you up in the air. You gasped as gravity began to pull you down, down right onto The Devil’s abdomen. 

The Devil laughed wholeheartedly and placed two hands on your thighs. You lowered your head and let him. He leaned forward, like he was about to kiss you. 

With no warning, The Devil picked his head up and looked at you. He looked disturbed. You wished you could back away. The Devil’s eyebrows knitted into an angry glare. He looked over his shoulder, past the cave. You heard him whisper under his breath.  
“No.”

You blinked twice, confused. He looked extremely upset now. His fur began to spike and he grabbed you closer. “No.” He repeated, with more vigor this time. The Devil looked at you, up and down. He looked like he wanted to kill you.

“You can’t be fucking serious.” He hissed. You didn’t want to ask what was happening. You were still shaken, for that matter.

The Devil held you firmly to his chest. The next time you lifted your head, you were back in his office. You were sitting on his desk, completely razzled from what just occurred. “You’re not leaving this fucking room.” He told you.

When he said that, he left your side and quickly made his way to the door. He placed his ear on it and stayed totally silent. You got up from your desk and looked down at yourself. It was like you two never started fooling around in the first place.

“Devil-”

He shushed you and placed his hand on the door. “Oh no.” He said with no feeling at all. There was a knock, and for the first time you’ve been down here, you saw The Devil look scared. His teeth were clamped together with a sense of vigor and fright.

He then backed away from the door. “No…” He whispered once more. He looked back at you. “If you leave this spot, I will fucking kill you.” He said, running past you to grab his trident. He gripped it, spun around, and disappeared.

The room was silent. You looked around the area, taking in what The Devil said. Would he even dare?

There was a small knock at the door. You flinched, thinking it was The Devil. It wasn't.

The huge door creaked open, and Dice peeked his head in. A rush of guilt flushed over your body. Did he know what just happened? Is that why he was here? You averted eye contact, but he spoke, intentionally making you look. "I have company for you, baby." He said. His voice was solum like he had just lost his life savings. You picked your head up as he creaked the door open more. Your jaw opened from the horrid anticipation.

Two bullets in the chest would have been easier to take than what you heard next. One boy jumped in, waving his arms around like a maniac.

“We got yer stupid contracts, Devil!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooooo could it beeeeeee


	13. All's Well That Ends Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freedom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT WAS SO AMAZING TO HAVE THIS KIND OF TURNOUT FROM MY FIRST STORY PUBLISHED ON ARCHIVE AHHHH!!!!! Seriously, if you read and enjoyed this it means the world to me! Since this was the result of a story I wasn't planning on taking serious flight I can absolutely promise there will be more Cuphead to come! Enjoy the last chapter of Poker Face Until I Perish, I love you guys.

That voice belonged to one of the only friends you knew. “Cuphead!” You shrieked, completely snapping out of The Devil’s favorite sin. You heard grumbles on the other side of the door. Mugman walked in, but he looked a bit more beaten up than Cuphead.

King Dice closed his eyes and looked to the side, ashamed. It looked like he knew this would have happened, but deep down he didn’t want it to be true. “I believe this is the gal you cups are lookin’ for.” He muttered.

Cuphead’s mouth was pulled into a scowl until he caught sight of you. You fell to your knees.

Your eyes met Cuphead’s, then Mugman’s. “You..” You whispered to yourself, too in shock to even believe it. They both looked bone-tired but seeing you made their spirits lift. Both their mouths opened with cheers as they began running over to encase you in a hug.

Feeling your friends’ embrace brought actual tears to your eyes. A cry of happiness, you never thought you’d experience it again. Both of them were speaking praises and prayers, but the pure elatedness surrounding you prevented you from hearing.

You squeezed them tighter in your arms and took a deep breath. As you exhaled, nothing but apologies and taking the blame left you. They smiled and told you they didn’t care about that.

That was a grown-up thing to say.

“We’re just glad to see ya in one piece!” Cuphead said, burying his face in your shoulder. “I thought one of those debtors would have gotten you two!” You said back, still struggling to hold back the “It’s my fault” spiel. Mugman was silent, and you were certain he was crying due to his body jolts.

But he didn’t want you to see. You leaned back and held his cheeks in your hands. He indeed was crying. He balled his hand up into a fist and wiped one of his eyes. “Mugman…” You began. He looked at you.

“I am so proud of you two.”  
He lunged forward and was now audibly sniffing. You smiled and grabbed Cuphead as well.

King Dice stood on the side of the carpet. He was frowning and raised a hand up to grip the side of his die-head. He didn’t believe they would actually pull it off. He looked apologetic, yet happy. Happy for you.

He let you three have a few minutes of reconciling, the cups describing briefly the trials they went through, and you very briefly describing the events that happened to you while you were here. You left out certain details that didn’t need to be said and stuck with telling the brothers about The Devil “being rude” to the sinners that were murdered at your table.

Despite what they went through to get you, they were still young and deserved to be shielded from The Devil’s true power.

King Dice walked over and for once, his feet dragged against the carpet. You peeked your head up to look at him. Still guilty about what had just happened with The Devil, you tried to avoid conversation with him. Unfortunately, he didn’t let silence between you two persist.

“I need to escort you three out.” He said softly. The cups lifted their heads as well. “Why so soon…?” You asked. King Dice now wore an expression of calm panic. Like he was trying to urge you to do something that your life could depend on but didn’t want you to know that it was that serious.

“The Devil is coming back for you.”  
Your eyes widened, and your grip on the boys tightened. “I understand you three have just had a most wonderful reunion, but we need to hurry. The Devil obviously did not account for you two to actually return. He is going to want those contracts and I suggest that you destroy them as soon-”

King Dice paused his sentence when the floor started to shake. Just as the tremor began, it ended. Dice looked mortified when he looked down at you three. “He is preparing to not let you leave. Hurry- There is no time to waste!” Dice said, quickly making his way over to you.

He held his elbow out. You looked up at him and at that moment, every single kind gesture that Dice had done for you crossed your mind. His green eyes sparkling with fear made your heart beat. Though you knew you were in terrible danger, you couldn’t help but realize how kind of a sinner King Dice was.

Why did you ever let The Devil take advantage of you?

You furrowed your eyebrows and locked your arm around his. The boys looked shocked but stood up as well. “Mugman, can you walk?” You asked him. He held his head and looked up at you, nodding weakly. “So that’s a no.” You answered.

You reached down to scoop him up and sling him over your back. He wrapped his small arms around your neck and buried his nose in the back of your shoulder. He felt like a corpse.

Cuphead beat his fists on his chest. “I can take ‘em!” He said, puffing his body up. King Dice shook his head. “The Boss is not like the debtors you fought. He cheats. You should know that first-hand.” He said, pulling his arm closer to his body, therefore pulling you closer.

Cuphead sighed and looked up at you. You nodded at him to justify what Dice had said. “Come on now.” Dice said, pulling you slightly. You followed him. He brought you to the huge door and stepped outside of it.

The bright lights of the casino had dimmed greatly. Disgustingly dark colors took over the area, almost decimating your vision. “Don’t worry.” Dice said. “I can see just fine.”

Mugman gripped your neck harder as he picked his head up to see around. Cuphead actually squealed. He raised a shaky finger to point out something in the darkness. It was a patron sitting at an unnamed game table. He was staring at you four, a large white smile and sunken in white eyes were his only complexion.

“Don’t look at them. The Boss is just trying to scare you.” King Dice ordered, continuing to pull you through the crowd. “Cuphead!” You called out, realizing the cup-boy was getting behind. He struggled to keep up and you had to grab his hand to keep from losing him.

The further you got through the crowd, the more obnoxious they got. Noticeable wails filled the casino floor, beating against your eardrums. You had no free hands left to cover your ears. You were forced to listen to the nightmare. You looked up at King Dice to distract yourself. His stern face brought you comfort.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught you looking and pulled you closer. “Don’t listen to what they say.” He ordered. You didn’t even know the “patrons” were speaking coherent words. Sure enough, you listened closely and found out they were.

“Stay with us stay with us stay with us….”

You shivered, knowing that the voices were directly speaking to you. You gripped Cuphead’s hand as you walked through the endless crowds. King Dice spoke up. You looked up at him and realized your vision was getting so terrible that even his glowing green eyes were becoming fuzzy.

“This next area we go through, I need you three to not think about anything. If you feel the slightest touch, do not be afraid of it.” He instructed. “Can you do that?”

Both the cup boys were quick to confirm their readiness. You hesitated and finally answered when Dice shot you a look. You closed your eyes and let King Dice lead you.

As you walked blindly, you tried not to think of anything at all. Any living person knows that this task was impossible. You squeezed your eyes shut and furrowed your eyebrows. The worst thing imaginable happened. A bony hand caressed your calf. Silently, you squealed.

The hand turned from boney to callused and those familiar nails scraped your skin. Your eyes snapped open and under your breath, you whispered “Devil”.

King Dice flinched and picked up the pace. The boys made a “whoa” noise from the sudden change of pace. “Why would you think of him?! It could have been anyone but him!” Dice snapped at you. Even though you felt guilty for thinking of him, you spoke up. “A hand that felt like his grabbed me!” You protested.

“Did I not tell you to dismiss anything like that?!” He answered back. You opened your mouth to speak, but Dice interrupted you. “We don’t have a- lot of time now.” He quickly said as the ground shook between his words. “When we get to our destination, I need you to promise me one thing.” He said.

You looked up at him. “I need you to never come back.”

When he said this, your vision cleared up almost instantly. “I’ll never see you again?”  
“You’ll never see this place again.” He said.

Maybe he misheard you, maybe he didn’t want you to know you’d never see him again. Either way, it was obvious that he wanted you to just give a simple answer and stay quiet.

Cuphead’s grip on you loosened before he clenched again. “There’s something behind us!” He squealed. You turned your head back as you ran. Sure enough, something unidentifiable was chasing you. King Dice’s eyebrows furrowed.

Your running ceased when King Dice brought you three to those double doors. “A hellscape is located on the other side.” He said. “I can’t cross over.” He added, much more quietly. “Dice-” You began as he let go of you. You turned to face him.

“Please, there is no time for conversation. I need you to take these boys across hell where you came from. Can you do that?” He asked.  
You nodded.  
“Swell. After you take them there, there should be a small cave entrance. In that cave will be a hole. I know going down seems to be the wrong way to go but- trust me.” He stammered as the ground began to shake uncontrollably. “Sometimes going down is the only way to go when you want to go up.” He said quietly, taking your hands. Mugman picked his head up.

Cuphead raised an eyebrow as he watched you two converse.

You and King Dice looked at each other silently. You started to say a goodbye, but Dice lifted a hand to your cheek and leaned in to press a kiss right against your lips. Unlike him, you didn’t close your eyes. This was too much to take in, that even a peck on the lips from King Dice couldn’t calm you.

Cuphead, of course, made a throw-up sound, but you paid no mind to it. At this point, tears were actually brimming at your eyelids. King Dice let go of your hands to lean over you and open the doors. “Go.” He whispered. You smiled through your pain but then screamed when Mugman did.

“Behind you!” He shrieked. King Dice’s eyes snapped wide open as he turned around. That thing that was chasing you was upon you and stood tall over King Dice. You were too stunned to move. King Dice turned around right when that “thing” morphed into The Devil. “Helping her escape?” He asked, putting his arms behind his back and leaning over him.

Dice was at a loss for words.

“I don’t take kindly to traitors.” The Devil hissed, reached an arm up. You watched as each one of The Devil’s fingers sprouted a sharp three-inch claw. Cuphead exhaled and screamed, frantically pulling at your arm towards the door. Mugman was hyperventilating.

The Devil swiped his hand down across Dice’s chest. His coat ripped in the places of impact, and the force knocked him to the ground. “Dice!” You wailed. King Dice looked up at you in pain. “Go! What the hell are you waiting for?!” He snapped.

Mugman started kicking you, urging you to go where Cuphead was taking you. King Dice furrowed his eyebrows. “GO!”

Finally, your senses kicked in and you followed Cuphead. “Don’t forget to burn the contracts!” King Dice shouted just as the door shut. When the doors sealed off any access you had to Dice, you felt tears run down your cheeks. There was a low scream that was pained enough to make your blood curdle.

“No- NO!” You began to panic. “We can’t do nothin’!” Cuphead reminded you, still anxiously pulling you to the other side of the hellscape you now resigned in. Mugman reached into his pants and pulled out a handful of contracts. “Cuphead!” He called out. The other boy looked up at him and nodded.

Mugman slipped off your back and hobbled over with Cuphead to a nearby fire. The boys frantically pulled out each and every contract they had, tossing them in the fire and making sure they resulted in nothing but cold ashes. “We gotta go!” Cuphead said, letting Mugman climb on top of his back.

You stepped back, eyes still locked on the door. “We don’t got time for your boyfriend!” Cuphead snapped, actual anger resonating in his voice. You looked at him and shuffled your feet sloppily before started to run. The ground began to horrendously shake beneath your feet. Almost like it was going to crack.

It did.

Right in front of your feet, the ground cracked across, splitting the earth in two. You screamed as you realized your friends were on the other side of the crack, closer to the exit than you. Like in a nightmare, the ground started to slowly separate. You looked down in horror. Nothing but red hot flames as far as you could see.

“Jump!” Cuphead shouted. You looked up at him, sweating buckets in fear. You took two steps back and closed your eyes. There was nothing else you could do now but risk it. Your eyes opened and you took that running start.

Your foot hit the edge of the crack before your body lifted off the ground. Right as you crossed over the center of the chasm, the flames delicately grazed your calves. The pure nightmare-ish feeling filled your veins until you hit the other side.

There was no time left.

“Go go!” You ushered the boys. Cuphead turned and began to run in the direction of the way out. You followed closely behind. The ceiling began to shake as well, and deathly-pointed stalactites that dangled from the ceiling began to play with fate.

One fell and was yards from the nearest firepit. You screamed and felt your adrenaline beat through your body. You looked ahead as you sprinted. Sure enough, a small cave entrance was proudly standing across the walls. You pointed ahead and yelled at the boys to aim for that.

Laughter.

Cruel, horrid laughter filled your ears. Before you could tell yourself it was all in your head, a hand grabbed your foot, obviously telling you that it was not. Your momentum came to a halt so quickly that your entire body flopped over forward. You laid with your back upon the cave floor.

You heard Cuphead and Mugman scream. You lifted your head to look at them, then at what had you in its clutches.

The Devil’s drooling, toothy-smile was all you saw. His body three times as large as he normally was. You looked up in horror. The Devil’s body was long like a snake’s and was coming from the crack in the floor. Your fight or flight response kicked in, and you lifted your foot to nail The Devil right in the eye. He growled, letting go to be able to rub his wound.

You scrambled to your feet. Before you took off running, you stared up at The Devil. “Come on!” Cuphead screamed.

You stumbled step by step when you noticed The Devil regaining his composure. “DON’T FUCKING LEAVE ME.”

The cups had already made it to the cave and were non stop screaming at you to hurry. The Devil roared in anger and began to crawl after you at an inhuman speed. You could hear the earth crackling each time he slammed a claw down into it.

You made your way inside the cave and not soon after, the three of you came upon a dark hole implanted in the cave floor. You remembered what King Dice said and your face lost any type of emotion it had left.

“We have to jump.”

Cuphead and Mugman looked up at you. “But-”  
“The Devil is coming, Cuphead! Where else are we going to go?!” You yelled.

Cuphead looked like he had just been stabbed. Your chest slowed down from the heaving breaths you experiences while running. “King Dice told us to. We have to trust him.”

There was a heart-stopping roar of pain coming from the cave entrance. Cuphead reached out to grab your hand. You held it firmly and looked to where the roar came from. The Devil was catching up quick.

“Cuphead-” Your words rushed out of your mouth like a waterfall. “I don’t know what will happen after we jump down here, but I am so proud of both of you for saving me. You’ll always be my heroes, no matter where we end up.”

Cuphead blinked slowly. He looked like he didn’t want to believe that things may not turn out okay. The cave walls began to crack. “On three, okay?” You said.  
Cuphead nodded quickly. He looked so fed up with emotions that he was about to break down.

“One-” The Devil’s claws raked through the cave as he tried to catch up with you. “Two-” He screeched in fear as you bent your knees, preparing to jump.

“Three!”

Cuphead jumped and you jumped with him. The next thing you felt was nothing but the pure feeling of your stomach in your throat. The three of you were falling with no signs of stopping down this dark, unforgiving hole in the Earth.

A scream faded out above you.

Seconds later, the three of you saw a light below you. Cuphead held onto Mugman tighter as he braced for impact. You closed your eyes and prepared for the worst. A blinding white light pierced the area around you. The three of you were thrown upwards and onto a cave floor.

You opened your eyes slowly to look around.

It was the cave you were in before you were dragged down. You couldn’t believe it. Cuphead was the next to realize where you three ended up. You stood up and dusted your apron off quickly. “We shouldn’t relax now. Let’s get out of here.” You said quickly.

The cups nodded and shakily got to their feet. You helped them out of the cave and made sure to close off the entrance by stacking nearby rocks around it.

Then you turned around. The sun kissed your skin, warming you up in the most natural way possible. The trees swayed in the wind and actual bird songs filled your ears. You took a deep breath. Fresh air. The purest scent that the world could offer.

You fell to your knees, the soft green grass hugging your skin. You looked broken, yet on the way to repair. A weak smile crawled across your lips. The sensation of being outside in a safe environment when you thought you’d never escape the cigar-smelling, sinner-dwelling hell made you ecstatic.

You looked over at Cuphead and began to laugh. Cuphead’s smile rose to his lips. He too broke out in laughter. Perhaps a lighthearted celebration would be enough to ignore the horrors you all went through for now. Mugman joined on on the giggles and ran over to you. You encased him in a hug.

Not soon after, Cuphead jumped on you too and knocked you over to the grass. The three of you laid on the soft Earth and did nothing but take in the fact that you had beaten Beelzebub himself.

The three of you were quiet for a minute, just to be able and catch your breaths. Mugman’s little fist gripped your dress. “We missed you.” He said quietly, like he didn’t want Cuphead to hear.

“I missed you too.” You said back.

[][][][][]

 

Cuphead and Mugman were playing on the floor of the living room next to the pot belly stove. While the fire did warm you up, it simultaneously made you shiver. Fire was something you were still getting used to after your fateful adventure.

Elder Kettle walked over to you with a tray and a blanket. He handed you the blanket, which you spread out across your lap. Elder Kettle then lowered the tray which had four cups on it. You examined them and took the one with tea in it. You thanked him and he nodded as he proceeded to hand the boys a cup of their favorite drink, hot chocolate.

You blew across the top of the tea and took a sip. The sight of the boys playing with toy trains and being thankful to Elder Kettle for their drinks warmed you up more than any fire could. Elder Kettle then set the tray on a nearby table and pulled up a rocking chair beside you.

“How is that tea tasting?” He asked as he took a load off, holding his own cup firmly in his hands. “It’s fantastic.” You told him and took another sip of your drink. You heard him chuckle under his breath as his gaze averted from you to the boys.

“They really are something special, aren’t they.” He said bluntly. You knew exactly what he meant by that. Their heroicness in saving you. “I couldn’t ask for a better set of friends.” You told him, sitting back in your chair to really relax.

As you two watched the boys play, Mugman leaned his head back and yawned proudly. He closed his mouth and rubbed his sleepy eyes. “Perhaps it’s time for bed.” Elder Kettle said. The two boys groaned and Cuphead held his toy car close to him. “Can’t we stay up a little longer?” He asked.

You chuckled and leaned forward. “How about if you two get ready for bed now, I’ll tell you a story.” You said. The boys exchanged looks and nodded. “It better be a good one!” Mugman said, getting to his feet and picking up his toy train.

The boys hurried over to the toy box to place their toys away. Elder Kettle then verbally rushed them upstairs where they then began to get ready for bed. You rose from your seat to clean up the boy’s cups, but Elder Kettle told you he would get them.

You watched as he hobbled across the room and picked up the cups. “I’ve been meaning to give you something that came in the mail today.” He said, scratching his nose with his free hand. “I’ll give it to you after you tuck the boys in.” He said.

You nodded and placed your cup on the table next to you and rose from your seat, folding the blanket nicely and setting it on the back of the chair.

You made your way up the stairs and heard the boys rushing around their room to get in their beds. “Are you two ready?” You asked. They yelled a “Yes” back to you when you walked into their room. Sure enough, both of them were tucked into their beds.

You smiled and grabbed a footstool by their closet and sat it between their beds. You sat down and folded your hands in your lap. “What should I tell you this time?” You asked. Cuphead sat up and grabbed his pillow from behind him to fluff it up.

“I think y’know what.” Cuphead said, grinning. You rolled your eyes and smiled back. “I’ve been telling you this story for months!” You protested. “Well, we wanna hear it again!” Mugman said back. You sighed and eyed Cuphead with a smirk. “Do I have to put the princess spin on it?”

They both nodded.

You sat up and sighed. “Once upon a time on a beautiful Inkwell Isle day, two handsome cups were having a tea party with the princess of that fine land. All of a sudden, dark storm clouds rolled in front the east, and an ominous wind blew through the trees. The flowers gasped and hid in the dirt as The Devil rose from the Earth!”

The two cups shivered and brought the covers up to their mouths. You chuckled and continued. “The Devil grabbed the princess and struck the cups down with lightning! He told the poor boys that in order to ever see their princess again, they had to best every debtor as far as they could see! So, the cups embarked on a dangerous journey full of superpowers, fights, and often a crazy debtor! Once the boys had collected every soul, they bravely ran back to The Devil’s lair.”

The boys grinned and excitedly waited for the ending.

“The boys caught sight of the princess, but also The Devil! So, the boys banded together and beat that dirty devil to the dirt!” You cheered. The boys laughed to themselves because of how heroic you made them sound. “The princess was saved, and never forgot how courageous her friends really were.” You said, standing up from the stool and walking over to each cup to plant a kiss on their forehead.

“And to this day, she is still grateful for their everlasting friendship.” You added. Mugman yawned again and Cuphead reached over to the table in between their beds to pull the string of a lamp, ultimately turning it off.

“Goodnight, my heroes.” You said with a grin. They both bid you goodnight and you backed out of the room to shut the door. As the door clicked close, you recalled what Elder Kettle said. You rushed down the stairs and spotted him in the kitchen. “Elder Kettle-” You began.

Without even looking at you, he held up a letter between his fingers. You walked across the kitchen floor to take it. “Thank you.” You said quietly. “There was no return address.” He remarked.

Sure enough, the place where it should have been was blank.

You tore through the letter and took out a small piece of parchment. The handwriting right of the bat was exquisite. You walked out of the kitchen when you began to read it.

You looked down at the signature and felt your thumbs grip the paper harder. You smiled and raised a hand to cover your open mouth. Immediately, you began to silently cry. Without Elder Kettle knowing, of course.

You verbally bid him goodnight and ran up to your room. You sat on the edge of the bed and hugged the paper to your chest before holding it out and reading it one last time.

“I am more than proud to see you best The Devil the way you did. I apologize for giving you quite the scare when you departed, but I assure you I am fine and dandy. This may be my last time speaking to you, for this letter was sent by an imp I paid greatly without The Devil’s knowledge. Though I may never hear from you again, I will never forget you. Dearest hopes for you and your cup friend’s future.  
K.D.”

The four of you had bested The Devil and survived to tell the tale. Never again would you find yourself in that horrid, unforgiving place. Never again did King Dice write to you. Despite that you had lost connection with someone who kept you sane through it all, you and your friends were safely back home and learned an important lesson that you would never forget.

Don’t deal with The Devil, and if you do, you better keep that poker face until you perish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you I'd make up for the short chapter ;)
> 
> Please leave suggestions on what kind of story you'd like to see next!


End file.
